Gods among us: Origins
by Dantegrey
Summary: Magnus Blacksson, Devil King, Jarl, Warrior, Berserkr, and the last Campione of his era, fall at the hands of the King of the end, along all his peers. But that was only the beginning, Pandora and Odin had plans for the Devil King, this is the history about how he was forged in battle and baptized in blood.
1. Chapter 1

_End of an Era_

_Middle Asia_

It has been glorious, it has been indescribable, there could be no words that could explain the powers that collide with abandon and rage in the middle of the lands of the ancient China, where the country wasn't even unite under the banner of the first emperor.

Truly the end of an era, the end of a time where powerful Campiones battled each other for fame, power or simply the need of felling alive, that proud was perhaps their own damnation, the arrogance that the Campione posses was not as different from the one of the gods, it could be even deeper as the Campione are the ones that hunt gods.

Never in history has ever been seen such raw violence, such power without any constraint being released and unleashed against each other until there will be only one standing.

And the prize was quite the catch, the prize was the earth itself, to rule over the humanity as the most powerful Campione, it was madness, it was crazy, it was stupid, it was glorious and greedy.

Fitting for the Campione indeed.

Ten battled over the earth, against each other and against the one that will kill them all, as his own legend was exactly the bane of all the Campione, the King of Heroes, the Descendant of the lineage of Argus.

_The King of the End_ has descend to earth, called by the suffering of the humanity and the cry of the Divine ancestors that represent the Mother Earth, so much was the destruction that the Campione were unleashing that no god wanted anything to do with them and the balance was at the verge of be destroyed.

However, even with all the power backing him or better said It, as the King of the End was nothing but a lot of power condensed and with a purpose, a divine weapon of unlimited power whose only objective was to collect the lives of all Campiones in its way.

Only one stood on his way, the most powerful and influential Campione of his era, the ancient one, the one that rule over the frozen peaks of the North, were no army has dared to set foot since he became a Campione.

The power surrounded both of them like mantles, sure and confident in their powers and determination, both of them had a mission, one of killing and the other to protect his people from all menaces that could cause them harm.

Explosions, light, darkness, weapons and elements danced in the place of their battle, it was sight that will not be seen again until the end of the next era comes around and the _King of the End_ awakes one more to cause devastation and restore the balance.

They learnt that lesson to late, the world can only tolerate a limited amount of Campione, they were not gods, not humans but something on the middle and their bare presence change the balance of the world to worst, as more awakes, more unbalanced the world became.

However they are needed, otherwise the gods are free to do as they please and no one will stand in the way of their whims, uncountable natural catastrophes has been responsibilities in the end by the machinations and actions of gods that wanted to play in the mortal lands.

Campiones are their hunters, their nemesis, their only real enemy, birth among humans, gifted by the ritual that Epimeteus and Pandora design, they became the adoptive sons and daughters of the woman that knows all and the fool savant.

Power is his blood and battle is in their soul, no mortal shall stand in their way, only gods can hurt gods and that´s as true and the sun light in the morning, Campione are one of a kind, for they were able to slain a deity when they were nothing but mortals and by that achievement, stole the powers of the gods they have slain becaming the Campione, Devil Kings, Kings, Gods and Monsters among humanity who respect, worship and fear they, the same way they do with the gods above.

Facing each other, the oldest of this era and the one that ends an era, they take a measure of their rival and do recognize that there are no malice in none of them, it was how the things must be, predator and prey, light and darkness, fire and ice, natural balance in the process.

The one who kills Campiones and the Campione who kills gods.

It simply must happen, its part of the cycle and despite Campiones being the bug of the system so to say, even them have to come to an end.

Not even the gods are immune to change and death, one god falls, another took its mantle, changing shape, authorities and myths that created the original in the first place. The form they myths gave birth to gods and how the faith could change the shape and authorities of the gods is a mechanism that no one has been never able to understand and the divine beings like it that way.

As the rest of the campiones battle each other in a confusing and violent all out brawl, the oldest and the harbinger of the end, look at each other, now that they recognize the other for what he was, they knew that they will be no other way but the trial and thrill of battle, a battle to the death, a battle where they will put all their souls and powers in play, there was no place for trickery here, this was a battle of pure power, nothing more matters.

The glorious but terrifying white and pure light of the _King of the End _clashed with a thunderous boom with the dazzling black and golden storm of the oldest campione.

The after shock of the impact created a crater of two meters deep and hundred metres diameter around the fighters, sending all the others campiones flying in all directions like eagles caught into a sudden blizzard.

This was a battle between titans and no one, not gods, not campione are allowed to intervene and dishonour the result.

The light ascend in the heavens and the black and golden storm went after it, they clash at each other like magnets of opposite polarities that could only attract each other.

The sky cried with every boom they made each time both forces clash with each other, the already scarred and full of craters earth, sank even more as more and more cracks appeared on the surface as result of the energies that were unleash by both divine beings.

The light pushed the storm to the ground, after gaining the upper terrain in he sky, it pummelled like a meteor over the storm chasing it, but even when all the gravity and the power of the light tried to subdue the storm, it only raged stronger, the golden lightnings scarred the immaculate white light, all the physic of the world went directly off the windows when the storm and the light reached the floor and buried themselves in the earth.

It was a stalemate between the light and the storm, floating an inch over the surface of the devastated earth, ten meters deep in a hole of their own making, none of them surrounding to the other, both fighting to the end and their power was directly off the charts, none of the other campiones could come closer to the output both of them were pulling of their sleeves.

Its always being said that _Authorities_ are the supreme essence of what a god are, divine powers that could twist reality and grant them complete control over an aspect of their myths, take Zeus [Sky] or Anubis [Death] as examples.

However there grades even those same authorities, there is always a next level, young campione and young gods always had to control their authorities, they are not accustom to the power or the mind set need to make complete control over it.

But in this case, it was not that way around, both had complete control of their authorities and they were putting massive amounts of power in it, up to the point that it did seems that the concept light and the concept storm as they are represented in myths are having a death match.

This was a battle between deities of the highest grade and the rest of the campione did take good note of how powerful they were, some were jealous of such power, others aroused and happy of being in presence of something this powerful, other greed over the power, wanting them for themselves.

But in all cases, for the first time in their long lives, the campione remembered what it was to be in presence of a superior being, they remembered the first time they had to contemplate a god, how hopeless all did seem and how insignificant they felt for a second, until they did the impossible and managed to kill the deity they stole their _Authorities _from.

Fear was poison for Campione, they are supreme rulers, not common mortals that bows and tremble under the fear of the gods, calling their own authorities, all of the rest of the Campiones joined to battle, all screaming their own battle cries and guided by their own desires and convictions.

Two new storms circle the golden one and unleashed torrents of lightnings over it, a rain of swords fall over the white light, a hawk made of pure fire stomped his way into the light meanwhile roots and trees erupted from the ground surrounding all fighters in a vegetable dome that start to crush them restless.

As response to that aggression, the campione and the King of the end, do what they do best.

Pure, unadulterated destruction waved in all kind of shapes and forms, from violent gusts of winds, to flaying and freezing blizzards.

When the dust settled after the sudden and violent clash of powers, all look at the rest with hate, lust, battle joy, indifference, sadness and happiness.

Such is the craziness of the Campiones, that could smile and be merry in the middle of a battle to the death with divine beings, they are the irrationality that stomps the irrationality of the gods, an impossibility made reality by impossible odds.

In all, the Campiones are quite the impossible bunch to deal with, more akin to the gods they hunt that the humans they were in the begging.

There was no need for words, the eleven fighters jumped at each other, each one of them looking for their adversaries, some in pairs, some in groups and a couple of them just as lone wolves that attack the _King of the end _like the have an axe to grind with the King of heroes.

The oldest one find himself attack by a couple of the most warmongers of the campiones of this era, the spartan Tello and the egyptian Mutham-Ra.

Heroes and champions of their people, they didn't give a fuck about anything that was not war related, always seeking for the next battle, for the next challenge that could bring them joy and happiness.

The oldest just raise his weapons and respond to the other two campiones like it always should be, with a thunderous war cry and his weapons prepared to strike both of them.

Not really need to mention that both of them were more than happy to deal with the oldest at his best and then, they will care about this so called _King of the end_, for them it was nothing but another heretic god that has land on earth to complicate things further.

For another of the campiones present in the battlefield, it was just another power source he could kill and stole his authorities.

Never has been said that all the campiones must be nice people, in fact, it was the other way around, lots of campione just get drunk in their own divine power, soon acquiring the same arrogance that the gods tend to display every time they land on earth.

Being the three fighters possessors of [War] related authorities, watch them fight is an incredible display of martial ability, from the curved favoured sword of the Egyptian, that moved like trail of light in the night, to the brute but effective shield and spear the spartan was showing as favoured weapons.

The oldest one fight in a defensive manner, he was fast when he need but the Egyptian was simply faster and the spartan was more than capable of matching his speed as he was possible the best martial artist of the world, only matched by the African huntress that was actually fighting the King of the heroes.

Weapon clashed, trying to gain an advantage to kill their enemies, swords and spears feinted, parried and dodged attacks that would make all professional fighters in the world go green of envy, it was a shower of sparks between the gold, red and yellow aura of the fighters, it was not a two versus one but a free for all where if you lose focus for a second, you will be torn apart.

They moved, three blurs changed of position, the golden one seeking for an advantage in terrain and the rest just following suit, not allowing their prey to scape, the three meteors pursue each other over all the terrain, dodging the powers being unleashed over all the lands, or parrying it with their own powerful weapons and authorities.

Leaving apart the prophecies that condemn them all to fall here, in presence of the representation of all their deaths, the so called _King of the end, _a lot of the campiones were having the time of their lives.

Campiones search battle, campiones do search for powerful rivals to fight and conquer, all humanity was under them and only gods could stand in their way, predators and prey elevated to the divine potency.

The three stopped over a mountain at kilometres of distance from the battle, the shield of the spartan fall like a meteor over the head of the oldest one, who raise his own weapon to block that attack and the sudden and swift swipe of the khopesh of the Egyptian with his own spear.

The shock pulverized the little forest in where he was trying to lure in the other two campiones, entire trees went flying from the resounding shock waves of the collision of the weapons, however, despite the devastation, the oldest one smiled and start pouring more and more power in one of his authorities.

The forest grow back, encapsulating them in a dome of darkness and divine wood, harder than any metal know by man and capable of withstand terrific damage as more power is put inside the green and brown material of the suddenly grow trees.

It was a two edged sword, he could trap all kind of enemies inside the forest but at the same time, it cages him too inside the dome, something that was exactly what he was looking for, reinforcing the woods, he awoke another of his _Authorities_ and prepare from the fight against his old and respected enemies.

Light emanated from inside the dome, clearly opposing the dark starless night of the outside, the authorities of the Campiones has clouded the night and only the intervention of a [Sun] authority will be able to clear the skies.

Golden, yellow and red clashed inside the dome, sometimes a loud animal cry could be ear from the outside as all three of them put all the cards under the table and call even divine beast under their myths to battle their fellow campiones.

It was not such an uncommon thing, lots of gods has favoured animals, Athenas [Owl], Odins [Wolf] or [Crow] and so on, this beasts, deeply tied with the myth and the divinity, could be called as summons by the gods, sometimes as guardians, sometimes as hounds or simply to cause destruction and havoc and remind the mortals, they are not alone in this planet.

Those same beast are passed along the _Authorities_ to the campiones that managed to slain their origin, in most cases the god or goddess whose they have more affinity, for example, dragons are a common divine beasts for earth goddess and usually, they have dragons as guardians and protectors.

Under the unbreakable dome of reinforced wood, and hidden from the prying eyes of gods and campiones alike, all three of them unleashed their most powerful authorities, they was no respite for any of them, who exhausted all their resources into this final bout, to the fuck with the future, this was a too much fun battle to care about what will happen next.

The oldest campione was a sly dog and his dome has two clear purposes, one was to prevent any fugue and the other to hide his powers from the eyes of the gods, whose eyes were focused in the battle like hawks over bloodied preys.

His powers were not a secret from some gods but there are millions of divine beings in the other realm, some will never heard of him and others were eager to clash swords with the oldest and possibly, most powerful campione in the world right now.

However, the true intention of the vigilance, was none other than the _King of the end_ a beings whose name and nature was hidden even from the wisest gods and goddess, few know the horrible truth about the essence that was hidden under the identity of the one that kills all campiones of the world at the end of each era.

But the oldest one was not one who callously runs into danger, he was after all the one that slain Odin and won some of his _Authorities_ among that the ones called Sygtir, One who guarantees Victory and Yggr, The Terrible.

He was one who obliges him to win, no matter if he had to retort to the most underhanded tactics, he hated that _Authority, _ it made him something he wanted to be, but the cunning and ruthless state of mind it granted to him was more than welcome in any situation as it gives him one hell of an advantage over a lot of rivals, specially hot headed ones like the most [War] related gods and Campiones or the ones that carried the [Steel] deep within their myths.

He chanted his arias, the chants that unleash the stolen divine rights over their enemies, no matter divine or mortals, those same arias that now were as part of his nature as they were from the gods and goddess they originated from.

In whispers, or when the mead and beer loosen up the tongues, some of his most trusted companions, lovers and friends, says that he will have to be already a new god, that he had nothing to envy from the gods, having accomplish dozen of great deeds, worthy of the sagas of the gods.

He didn't care, he didn't care at all about divinity, he was not a god, just an unlucky man who has to carry on the burden of being the last and only line of defence against the heretic gods that some times get down the earth and cause terrible catastrophes.

The golden glow brighter stronger and louder, not even the diamond hard wood could contain the storm and started to rumble, shacking when the power pushed against his constraining branches and root.

A twin red storm and a yellow radiance erupted at the same time that the golden glow grew to painful levels, in a crescendo of high pitched sounds originated from the sound of metal piercing through metal and flesh and the screeching sound of exploding metallic pieces.

With a final and brutal explosion, the wood was obliterated from the inside, sending branches and wood splinters in a hundred metres radius around the dome, the explosion has been so devastating that most of the roots of the dome were ripped out of the earth in a violent conflagration of energies.

From lighting to sun light and whatever was that red thing the spartan has managed to pull out of his sleeve, the result however has been too close for the oldest one to be comfortable with it, in all honesty he almost thought for a second that he was going to loose but miraculously his most trusted and powerful weapon managed to pierce the absolute defence of the spartan, giving him enough time to call upon his most violent authority and put an end to the battle with a massive explosion.

That was a close call but alas, he has come on top of the battle and once again be victorious, this was starting to get seriously bored for the last century, there was only other two campiones as older as him and only one of them was amicable with him.

Well, more than amicable, Dione was the Devil Queen that manages to kill Aphrodite with the arrows made from the teeth and poison of the blood of Medusa and she had inherited not only the _Authorities _of Aphrodite but her insatiable lust for love and romance.

She was convinced that only male powerful gods or Devil Kings are worthy of her and as the oldest Devil King, she has already made more than clear her point of woo him, by force if it was necessary.

Not need to mention, his actual wife has something to say about that, how could not feel in love with Vindra?, she headbutted a devil queen who was trying to stole her husband, thankfully the Völva did not need to get to the spells before he made Dione clear that he was married now and the vows he made were sacred, even if he was a Devil King.

She shrugged and smiled, she has all the time of world and she was telling the truth, Vindra will age and she will not, however that remark about how only a real woman is able to quell the lust of a Devil King was a rude from her.

Not entirely out place but rude anyway, it works both ways, only a god or a Devil King was capable of satisfying the appetites of a goddess or a Devil Queen.

Painting in loud gasps after the hard combat he has just fought, one that has been quite more difficult that he expected; the oldest one take some time to catch his second breath, this has taken a high toll on him and the battle was nearby ended.

He closed his eyes and search in his interior, looking for the Authorities he own and domain, among them and from the same origin of the one that has allow him to control the trees around him, was the bless of a goddess who he didn't wanted to kill but he had too, otherwise his people would have been sacrificed into a blood ritual that will bring back a dark facsimile of a real god, a corrupted monster that was neither god, neither divine being, but a mass of divine power and blood, who will only hunger for the flesh of the human and the gods.

Such are the common tragedies of the Campiones, they are confronted with the same tragical and impossible decisions that made the gods, the legends they are today.

Slowly, like a growing tree, his strength begun to come back to him, closing his wounds, cleansing his fatigue and tiredness, glowing in a soft and calm golden green, he smiled when the refreshing effect of the restorative Authority work its wonders on his old and battered body, bringing it back to his peak.

Still, he knew that he has leeched the life force of the nature life around him by forcing his power and rushing it to action, instead of letting the energy go at its correct and natural flow, unfortunately he has no time to lose.

The battle has just begun and despite his victory over the other two devil kings, he knew that he will not anything from them and instead he has only lessened their chances to face the _King of the end_ and survive to its sacred mission of killing all the Campiones in the world.

He extended his hand and _Gungnir_ obeyed the mandate of his master.

The spear was deeply buried in the broken and charred bronze shield of the spartan, piercing through his absolute defence as [Steel], one of the attributes he stole from Ares; and his body, cutting his heart in pieces and obliterating it inside of his body.

No matter if you are a deity of [Steel], that hurts a lot, in fact it hurts so much that not the unnatural resilience of the Campione has saved his life, and now he was a standing corpse of solid metal, although, the spartan had a happy and joyous smile on his face, barely covered by his helmet.

The oldest one sighed catching the returning spear and twirled it over his head before slamming it to the ground checking for any damages in the runes of the weapon or the weapon itself.

The spartan, no name, only the spartan was something akin to a friend, they have fought together and against each other in many occasions and it was an absolute pity that he had to kill him by his own hands.

The Egyptian on the other hand was a complete mystery for the oldest one, the corpse of the sand country Campione was sprayed over the wood in the corner of the destroyed dome, his body was a complete wreck as the golden storm of the oldest one has finally overthrow his own sun flare and destroy the incarnation of the [Falcon], the sacred bird of Horus whose wings flared with the sun and brought justice to the lands of the Nile.

The oldest one has meet thousands of persons in his long and hazardous life, and after all this time he has become quite the good character judge, not to mention one of the _Authorities _he had helped him to discern the truth and the Egyptian did seems a good man, too much into his I am the justice thing but his thirst for battle had nothing to envy from even the most [War] related gods and Campiones.

Clicking his tongue, the oldest one smiled to himself, one the most curious secondary effects of the recovery power he was using was how his mind tend to wander and how he was always looking at the bright side of life.

As it has been said before, he really regretted to kill the goddess from whom he obtain the recovery _Authority_, independently of how useful it was and how after being able to completely dominate it, it was able to bring him back to life if the conditions are adequate.

With his body and soul recovered, the oldest one observed the battle that was taking place in the valley under the mountains they have travel in a second looking for a good enough place to held his own death match against two fellow campiones.

And what he saw make him frown, things were not looking good, the battle against the _King of the end_ was a complete carnage, from the seven campiones only three, him among those three were still standing.

Channelling some power to his soul, the oldest one bring forth the steed of Odin himself, the eight legged horse _Sleipneir, _the best horse among gods and men, using the power of the horse to travel immense distances in a moment, the oldest one gallop over the lands, indifferent to terrain, craters, waters or any kind of obstacle, they were nothing for the massive and powerful horse who was as eager to battle as his master, the horse was a war horse alright and he had not problem in travelling through hell itself if that is what is needed o reach his objective.

And that was his weaknesses, the horse need an objective, it could only be pointed as a missile, goes from the point A to B, no matter the obstacles but there must be a point A and point B and considering the speed the stallion could reach it was hard to give him objectives in a fraction of a second, specially if you are in the middle of the combat, where you have to be specific and do not simply run head on to the blade of your enemy.

The travel itself was made in a second, such was the speed of the horse of the king of the Aesir and the oldest one dismounted his horse and let him vanish in the myth were he did came from, now that his purpose has been fulfilled.

Taking a second to observe the battlefield in more detail, the oldest one sighed, there was enough magic energy floating around in the atmosphere, that any mortal will be overwhelmed by the raw power around them.

For the Campione on the other hand was just the bell that marks the beginning of another round in their interminable battle against heretic gods and among themselves, still, such amount of residual energy was messing his senses badly, it was like a permanent mist of ozone all around his sharp and enhanced senses, dulling them.

Not a good sensation, specially for one that had beast among their affinities and powers, as one domains his affinities and uses it, some attributes of said animals slips in the mind of the campione, not entirely but enough to change a little their already eccentric behaviours.

Of course, first one has to had said animals completely dominated, completely under control , otherwise they will simply rebel or annoy their master, or if the beast is a slippery and cunning one, it would betray its master if the need arises.

Myths are had more than enough examples of betrayals, not all beings with blood, but almost all of them end with blood, buckets of it.

This was not an exception of the rule, at the end, their own instincts has betrayed them, the _King of the end, _has called them to battle and as Devil Kings they have feel obliged to make act of appearance and face the one that has challenge them into possible the battle of the ages.

The oldest one sighed and sniffed the air, the stingy sensation of the massive amount of magical energies pierced his nose like a needle but then he caught a very specific smell and the sadness invaded his hearth.

He run into the battlefield, in the close distance he could seem how the another survivors where still standing his ground against the overpowering white aura and light of the killer of Campiones, its form was not free of damages but even with all the crippling wounds, the bastard was still winning.

Damn it, damn it to Nilfheimr, may the goddess of death find you and bury you in the deepest and darkest corners of their domains for all the eternity.

The oldest one travel the distance that separated him from the source of the smell that has shock him in a blur, there was no need of summonings or chantings when your own body is so enhanced with power that you are way beyond any human limits.

He landed at the side of the laying form of a beautiful woman dress with a green toga that only hugged her spectacular female forms like a lover, her gold burn air was sprayed on the floor and her immaculate skin was marred by the fountain of blood that erupted from a nasty and cruel wound on her stomach, a silver arrow was deep on her belly, piercing her flesh and divinity.

He recognize the arrow, he has felt those in his own skin more than once, the owner of the arrow was obsessed with being the greatest hunter on earth, surpassing even the gods itself and now she has claimed another reward.

It was stupid beyond measure right now, but once again, the instincts of the Devil Kings has betrayed them, she has felt the weakness of Dione and took the chance to end her and claim her head as trophy.

It was odd, nonetheless, she should have already claim the head of Dione but the wounded Greek woman was still there, bleeding to death over a charred lands, far away from her home and loved ones, only her unrequited lover was at her side, comforting her on her last moments.

Soon all get more clear with a brutal gust of wind cleared the saturated air and allow the oldest one to see the body of the huntress rip in half, still standing on her own two feet and her torso and half of her strong and hardened face completely mesh up a few hundreds metres to the left side.

She has kill Dione but someone has delivered to her the same fate, Verdandi, Skuld and Urdr must been laughing their asses off about all this, those damn Norns always had one sick of humour.

The oldest kneel at the side of the woman who opened one of her closed eyes, even in her deathbed she was damn elegant, like she was being attended by one of her uncountable number of lovers, attendants and sycophants.

"Too late now northern one" chuckled her and despite her teeth were marred in blood, it did not lessened her beauty, just put it in a more animal and savage view " that coal skinned bitch shoot me when I was busy ripping apart that cursed white light" hissed in annoyance to the devastated corpse of the African Devil Queen.

"I´m sorry Dione, I should have been here" apologize the oldest one taking one her hands in his and trying to channel his own recovery _Authoroty _on her but he was not completely recovered and the high magical resistance of the Campione acted against her this time.

"Don't bother my love, I know I am death and no miracle will heal me this time" she sighed, she has lost all sensations from her neck below long ago.

"Never give up Dione" smiled the oldest one combing her gold like hair with care " we are the impossible made flesh, what is another miracle for us?".

The crystalline laugh of the dying Devil Queen filled the battlefield.

"That's why I loved you my northern king" she increased her grip over the hand of the oldest one and shook his head " you were the storm that shackled my soul, the beast I will never tame, the only man I will ever loved".

"I know" said the oldest one kissing her forehead, he could not save her life but that´s no excuse for not soothing her pain, allowing her to die in peace and with smile in her lips.

"Its the curse of the Devil Kings, their arrogance to do not recognize what they have lost until they have lost it" whispered the oldest one, as all the campione he was not free from the sin of arrogance, firm in his belief that in due time the immortal lover will be together again but alas, the fate has intervene and kill one of the few women that could understand what is being him.

He raised the head of the dying woman and kissed her, with the spare strength she has recovered from the breath of life he has poured on her before, he hugged the strong frame of the oldest one and deepened the kiss, they entangled their tongues and the passion overflow them in a moment, a blue and golden spark that sung of love for a second.

None of them hold back and poured all her feelings in that last kiss, trying to compensate an eternity of love into the last breath of the dying Devil Queen of the Polis of Aegium, their magic powers, their divine essence mixed together in a perfect mix of blue and gold, until the form of the Dione fell limp and the life abandon her stunningly beautiful body, that not even death could smear her features.

She has died in peace and in the arms of the only man she ever loved, pity the man was already married and was devoted to his wife but that was perhaps part of the tragedy that all the Greek seems to cherish in all their theatricals.

Anyhow she has died as happily as she could, considering that all the campiones are destined to die in violence or emulating the same tragedies that fall upon the shoulders of the protagonist of the myth they have stolen their powers.

Her last thought was of love, a goodbye only for his soul to ear.

"_I will always love you, Magnus Blacksson, my Northern king, my Devil King"._

But the oldest one was far from happy, in fact was angered, not, better said he was furious at levels that only gods are capable if understand and fear.

[Berserkir], the chosen warriors of the Aesir, men and women touched by the gods and empowered way beyond any human limits, warriors without fear that will clash against an army and just tear them apart as if they were paper foil in the wake of their rage.

He was one of them, long before he became a Campione, he was a warrior touched by the gods, a _berserkr, "_one who wears a bear shirt", whose totem was the powerful bear and who worshipped Thor.

He kill his first deity in the name of the Aesir when he took down the Inuit god Nanook and obtain the [Polar Bear] incarnation, a power that matched his own animal totem and who has protected him ever since the day he died and meet the vivacious Pandora in the afterlife.

All the battles, all the deeds and miracles, all the adventures and he was still the same idiot that almost a millennium ago.

Wrath erupted from him in a golden and silver explosion of lighting and ice, his powers flared like a lighthouse in the night and the oldest one roared, his thunderous roar, more akin to the one of a savage and frenzy bear than a human war cry, cracked the already more than punished lands adding an extra layer of cracks and scars on the earth.

Taking the reins of his anger with the practice of one that has done similar things dozen times in the past, the oldest one caress the face of the peacefully smiling Dione, he channel power to the earth and the earth responded, surrounding the woman in a beautiful casket of wood, flowers and roots, surrounding her healing body and burying her slowly and tenderly in the earth.

The earth will deliver her to Aegium, the polis of Greek she loved and protected from gods and mortals alike, her kin could cry the lost of her protector and the woods will heal her body, so she will be as beautiful in death as she was in live.

The oldest one roared and the earth tremble at his steps, when he started to walk directly into the battle, there was only three campiones in the way of the _King of the end_, the one that slain devil kings and heros with the same easiness.

The oldest one didnt care, he was way beyond words now, his power flared as advise to the other two survivors.

Get the hell out of my way, this is my prey and to make this point crystal clear...

Soon he stop walking, simply because he was now standing over the broad back of a humongous polar bear of pristine fur, the beast open his maws and thundered with a roar that came out like a gale of chilling winds and ice spikes that assaulted the white aura of the _King of the end_ like the hammer of Thor.

No matter how powerful you were, the [Polar bear] was the incarnation of the freezing tundras of the Ice lands in the northern corner of the planet, the blizzards that generates there are more than enough to freeze to death even the most powerful animals and this blizzard was empowered by the rage and magic of the oldest one.

Like a frozen missile, the _King of the end _ fly in the distance almost a kilometre, before he crashed like a meteor against the surface of the earth, erasing the grass and creating a two metres deep crater just with his fall.

The oldest one raise his runic spear and command the bear to eviscerate the _King of the end_ , whose armour and sword was already showing signs of being severely beaten up, fill of cracks and scratches, burns and smears.

However he was no pushover and soon recovered the balance and shoot a dozen white balls like celestial stars to stop the bear in his charge, the oldest one call for the aid of he skies, erecting a dazzling wall of lighting in the wake of the balls.

Stunned a little about how four of the balls were capable of piercing the wall of lighting, he jumped from the back of the bear and call forth his steed, dismissing the bear before the balls could hurt the incarnation of the Inuit good.

The time slowed down, or better said, his perception hastened to the point that everything seems to be in perfect slow motion, such was the speed that _Sleipneir_ could grant to his rider, the domain of the god speed, where everything stands still while you moved with the speed of the thought.

_Sleipnir _and the oldest one charge like one against their enemy but even with the incredible speed that the horse gives the oldest one, the hero killer managed to parry the spear before it could pierce his head with all the inertia accumulated from charge at the speed of light.

One good thing about the _Authorities_ is that they defied common sense and the rules of the world, on the other hand, it only means that your rival will do exactly the same thing with their _Authorities._

The clash still send them flying in the night air, in a display of acrobatics and speed, both recovered their balance and start attacking each other, one with a glowing white sword that burned the divine like it was dry grass and the other with a rune etched spear that pierced the white aura of the enemy of all campione with each golden thrust.

It didn't matter to none of them that all this exchange was happening heads down and while they were travelling through the air, riding the shock waves of their previous clash, literally in the case of the oldest one, that was still on the saddle of _Sleipneir _as indifferent as his enemy about how they were defying gravity like it was nothing.

Once you are a Devil King long enough, you get used to it, why use common sense in a battle where the reality need a drink every minute?, considering who were the two fighters it was no surprise that neither of did even blink in the face of the impossibility.

They landed in synchrony but was the oldest one, the one who won the initiative and launch a furious rain of spear strikes over the figure of the _King of the end, _the constant strikes makes the _King _retreat a little as he parried and dodged the flurry of strikes from the runic weapon of the oldest one.

When he opened enough space between both of them, raised the sword over its shoulder and send a thousand of white waves of pure destruction to the oldest one, he observed the incoming doom and smirked sightly before the horse under him neighed in despite and vanish, leaving an after effect like form.

The mirage was promptly rip apart by the waves, at the same time rider and mount appeared just over the _King, _who by the way disappeared in a very similar manner, this time being his after image the one crushed under the power of the rider and the mount.

The _King _reappeared at their side and slashed in a wide arc with its blade, the oldest one recovered the vertical and parried the white sword with his spear just to observe astonished how the sword managed to nick and inch on the indestructible metal of the spear.

_Gungnir _was a weapon of legend, nothing could destroy the runic spear and yet there was a white unnamed sword, who has just achieve the impossible, he really hated when they counterattack with the same irrationality that made him Campione in the first place.

In a sudden inspiration, he grab the arm of the sword, clenching his teeth for the sudden and brutal pain he experimented after grabbing the arm and aura of the _King, _ and throw him out balance, disengaging the spear and the sword and jumping over him, tossing him to the ground and raising his spear into a thrust that will pierce its head.

The world went white when the aura of the _King _exploded in all directions like a supernova, caught in the epicentre of the explosion, the oldest one and his steed only have time to widen their eyes and brace for the sudden and scorching impact of the massive and devastating power of the killer of Campiones.

The dome of light flared for a second before went back to the frame of the _King of the end_, who raised from the floor and look for his enemies, he walk a couple of steps before a flock of ravens appeared from nowhere clouded its vision, sharp claws and beaks rained over it, ready to tear it apart piece by piece in a cacophony of caws and fluttering of wings.

Moving his sword in wide arcs, each one of them effectively killing one of the ravens, who disappeared in a puff of shadows when the sword cuts them, the _King_ didnt notice how a dozen of roots were growing in the earth focused as it was in killing the flock of murderous raves.

The roots trap his legs in a moment and the second it noticed how he was trap, he produced another devastating white flare, obliterating both roots and ravens, with a casual flick of his sword, he send another ball of doom to the form of the oldest one, who was pointing his hands at him, creating a big ball of lighting between them.

Both balls collided but the white one soon overpowered the lighting one and get through it, burying itself in the chest of the oldest one, who vanished like a mirage when the ball caved his chest.

A little surprised, the _King of the end, _look out for his enemy and when the sky clouded and a devastating arrow made of pure lighting crashed over it, charring its armour and putting the _King_ on his knees, the _King _turned his gaze to the heavens and immediately recognized the flying from of the oldest one, who was floating in the middle of a electric storm, picking lightnings and transforming them into bow and arrows, throwing them at the _King._

The arrows travelled fast and slam against the aura of the _King _ in a battle of electricity versus light, something completely impossible by any logical and common sense physics, however this is the realm of the myth, were the common sense is throw out of the window as soon as the heretic gods enters through the door.

The aura of the _King _subdued the lighting arrow and destroyed it in a show of sparks, before raising the sword to the sky and starting to conglomerate all the aura it carries around, the ball of white whatever it was started to expand at an alarming rate and the oldest one saw in astonishment how the earth, the electricity, the air, even the damn magic power that saturated the battlefield was being devoured by that white aura of the _King._

Even the oldest one was baffled, he was never saw anything like that, not even when he battled with those strange deities of Africa or the blue tattooed deities of the Tuatha, their powers he could comprehend but this white thing defied his understanding.

However, even if the [Magic] he gained from Odin could not pierce exactly the veil that surrounded what power was exactly this odd thing, the oldest one knew it was fucking dangerous nonetheless and the less he is being hit by it, the better.

And speaking about magic, the _Authority_ he gained from Odin when he bested the Aesir in one of the most lethal fights in his life was telling him that that white thing was dissolving everything, even magic, so the _King_ was about to shoot at him a massive ball or ray or stream like the breath of a dragon, of a thing that will corrode his magic.

That could be a hell of a gamble, his restorative powers against a thing that corrodes and destroy divine _Authorities._

Well, today was not the day for such a bet.

The oldest one pointed his hand down, accumulating all the power of the storm that he has created with the _Authority _ of the same name and at the same time the _King_ created his white projectile, the oldest one created his own.

A massive ball of lighting, slowly gaining a gold and apple like colour and shape, formed in front of the oldest one, who keep his focus in controlling one of the oldest incarnations of the [Storm] that Perun from the Bogovi used to destroy his enemies and make humanity cower in fear from the power of the skies.

It was curious how golden apples were the common ground on where a male god of war and storm and a goddess of the earth and live, was the golden apples, for ones symbol of absolute destruction, and on the other hand, symbol of eternal life to the others.

Perun challenge him once for the apples and he battled the god in defence of the same goddess that he killed once, something that he regretted deeply but as Devil King, his responsibility was with humanity first.

The oldest one chanted the words that freed the power, an attack that could obliterate an entire city, a attack that was deeply engraved in the minds of the Slavic people, as the wrath of his patron god.

"_As I posses the golden apple and threw it high into the sky, the lightning bolts should burst from the sky, not an eyewitness left, not even to say how they died!" _

The sky erupted in a massive electrical storm, concentrating in the golden apple until the bomb of divine power and electricity feel from the sky directly at the _King, _ who without a word command the white humongous ball to fly and destroy the golden ball.

The clash of the powers was something that no mortal world could describe, it was the wrath of the gods falling on earth...literally.

As the golden orb stomped his way into the white one, it appears clear that his job was not a prove of strength but to grab the white and use his own power against him, slamming both of them down like the hammer of a god.

Being completely honest, the _King of the end_ was genuinely surprised when one of its aces under the sleeve just crash down on it like a vengeance but it was not the first time he had dodge such impending dooms, it has the god speed among its powers, the capability of travel miles in less than a second at the speed of light.

Although, that only happens when your feet are free.

It was the second time the damn campione caught him in the same damn trick, a hint of annoyance appeared on the visage of the _King of the end_ however its battle senses flared like houselights, alarming the _King_ about the pincer attack that two clones of the oldest one were trying to pull on him, one from the left and one from the right.

The _King _didn't worry much about the attack, the sword raised and moved in a two ways attack, cutting both sides in a upward and downward motion as fast as the god speed could provide, that means both cuts has been done at light speed.

What the _King_ didn't expected was for the twin to but ripple like images in the surface of the water when the white glowing sword cut both of them in a spectacular and too quick for the eyes, display of swordsmanship and speed.

Then the _King_ realized the mistake that has been committed.

Even at a speed of light, he will not be able to dodge the ball of lighting and white completely, they were too close and the area of effect of the attacks will be absurd, more than probably it could erase a pair of mountains with easiness or completely vaporize a city like the Greek polis near the Mediterranean.

The white aura covered the body of the _King, _destroying the roots that had his feet imprisoned, reinforcing the body or more better said, destroying anything that comes into contact with the glow.

The time and the space around the _King _ seems to stand still, all adopting a tonality of black and white, once one enters into the god speed all the universe became blurry, there are some heretic gods like Hermes whose speed is so great that all he can see is a blue and white tunnel when he runs at his max speed.

The _King_ get out of the epic enter of the explosion and when he was about to reach the end of the incoming bombs of pure destructive power, lowered its eyes to see in astonishment, the golden and rune etched head of the spear _Gungnir_ that has pierced the glow and the body under it with immense force.

Dragging both inside the explosion of white whatever and lighting, the oldest one pushed the spear deeper into the body of the _King_ who buried his sword in the chest of the oldest one, nicking his lungs and making him puke blood as the white aura corroded his divine enhanced body like a mix between a poison and an acid.

The oldest one did not even blink from the pain or the incoming death, he had a work to do and now he had the bastard exactly where he wanted, in the middle of the explosion of both energies, one that he could not absorb because of the lighting mixed with it, as the _King _was not a deity of the storm.

He changed the trajectory of the piercing and with the prodigious and unmeasurable strength the [Polar Bear] granted him, he nailed the body of the _King _into the floor, piercing the chest and armour the killer of all Campiones possess, effectively immobilizing him, exactly in the centre of the incoming devastation.

They did not exchange words or curses, the battle was over and both know it, the sword was killing him but the _King_ knew that he will not be able to scape from the explosion, not with the spear that was piercing the armour and flesh on the chest of the _King of the end._

Despite all the violence and death, both has to admit it has been a glorious battle and a complete carnage, there will be no more Campione, the _King of the end_ has won but at the same time, it has cost the _King_ his live and that will means that they will be more Campione, there will be another era after the defeat, the _King _has suffered at the hands of the oldest one.

The _King_ was not the usual heretic god, not a campione, it was something stranger, a thing made to be the catalyst of the change of the eras, a being made of purpose, none, not even the wisest gods or goddess have a clue about that the heck that thing was, except a few and they are totally tight lipped on the matter.

However, that doesn't means that the _King _had not develop traits, among one of those traits was the honourable appearance it usually takes when something or someone managed to impress the _King_ long enough.

"Whose your name warrior?" asked the _King of the end_ before the explosion vaporized both of them in a cloud and thunder that will make any nuclear weapon pale in shame.

"Magnus Blacksson" replied the oldest one with a feral smile in his lips.

It has been a god live.

The explosion consume both of them, between the white and lighting, the energies just seems like a band of hungry piranhas devouring completely their prey, their flesh was stripped from their bones in a matter of seconds, first their skins, then with a golden glow, their muscles and tendons disappeared, another glow and the wind, charged with energy, evaporated whatever soft tissue they still kept on their skeletons.

The bones of a god and a Campione are one of the most hardest materials on earth but against the level of power they were dealing with, soon both of their skeletons was destroyed and picked up by the massive wind gust that the explosion generated, their powers clashed against each other, no matter if they both were already long die by then trying to overcome each other and in a final clash that faintly resemblance a nuclear explosion, they collapse, destroying all in their wake in hundred of miles around, vaporizing any proof of what has happened this day and relegating this glorious battle as a side note in the chronicles of mankind.

Forgotten for everyone except for those who loved the Campione and the world of magic but the one that did not forgot at all the oldest one was his adoptive and vivacious mom, who waited for him in the afterlife.

Not every day one of her sons achieve the deed that none other god of Campione has ever done, killing the _King of the end_, their unique and personal nemesis.

Well, there was that poor and cute boy of Yamato who would do it in the future, probably, it was still up for debate, still he will be the only one who will be capable of vanquishing Verethragna and his antics with his harem are most amusing.

She has to prepared for welcoming her child, she was eager to talk to Magnus, it has almost been five decades since he visited her and she was going to give her a piece of her mind, how could he worry her like that?, no good son does that to his mom.

The space between

No time possible

Magnus had a horrific headache, he had the mother of all headaches, and that was supposedly impossible, his healing factor as Campione and the restorative ability of the[Golden Apples] makes him almost immune to all sickness, poison or wound, no matter how grievous it could be.

Well, that was knew, first time in a century he had such a hangover and what is worst is that he has not drink a single drop of ale or mead or beer or wine before, this is nuts, hangovers are for After the drinking, not for Before...although that could only means he was about to drown himself in a river of booze if his healing factor could not compensate the alcohol in his system.

Now that will be something to wait for...unless, its not for alcohol but for the little fact that he has been vaporized to the last piece of flesh and bone by a massive storm of golden lighting and whatever that white thing of the _King of the end_ was.

Uh, best battle ever. Sucked to die at the end but still it has been great, a truly challenge...

Pity Dione didn't make it, damn the huntress for all the eternity, that was not the moment to kill a honourable woman like Dione, she didn't deserve it, she was the best of the Campiones, a good but playful woman who ruled over Aegium with wisdom and justice.

So many lives lost by the whim of a Divine ancestor who managed to find and awoke that bastard of the _King of the end_, even at the end he has been unable to determinate what in Hellas name, was under the armour of the _King, _it was androgynous, perhaps it would have something to do about what does the Campiones thinks about who will kill them.

Until a decade ago, he has never even ear about the _King of the end, _it was a legend about the thing that comes out when the number of Campione is to high for the balance and the _King _ kills them all, leaving the planet free from the influence of the Campiones.

On the other hand, no campiones means that the places is open business for any heretic god who felt playful that morning and gets down to earth to revive a little of their myth, not really caring a shit about what it could do to the mortals around them.

Plague, war, strife, natural disasters, etc, were the usual consequences of their actions, only when they fought among them and the plots of the Divine ancestors to recover their divine essence or to fulfil a vendetta, are the heretic gods stopped or tried to be stopped.

Magnus always thought the system was complete mess, everything must face his wyrd at some point, his last day, his Ragnarok, there is nothing eternal, just long and lonesome. He knows it well, he has buried twenty wives so far, he could remember her names with crystal clarity, along their faces and smiles, he burned it with runes in his soul, to never forgive those he love.

His friends, companions, brothers, sisters and lovers, no matter what, those dear to Magnus had a place in his heart, as he will engrave their names and deeds forever in his soul; his [Fimbulthurl] the master of all magic _Authority_, one of the many names of Odin, allow him to do things like this.

Growling a little and with his eyes closed, Magnus just keep laying in whenever he was, didn't really care if Hella was after his ass or in hell, now he will nurse his hangover and fell a little miserable for what has happened.

He has failed, that was the single truth, he has failed and now his people was defenceless against all the bastards that hold a grudge against them, the Romans, the Tuatha, the Celtic tribes and the hunters of Chernobolg will go after his clan and kingdom now that he was not there to face the supernatural.

They are going to die and it was his fault.

"Ah, No!, no way in hell are you going to mope around!" a child voice echoed in all the place and what worst, it rings with the headache he was felling, still it was good to see that she was as lively as ever.

Suddenly he felt how something land over his stomach, it was a good thing that his body was incredible sturdy otherwise will be throwing his guts out, as it has been said before, she has not changed at all.

"Magnus I am going to punch you!" announce the woman shacking a fist in the air with a menacing glance.

Slowly, Magnus sat in a more comfortable position, hiding his face over the shoulder of the little girl, a girl millennium older but who act and behaves like a child, despite being the adoptive mother of all Campiones.

Pandora was taken aback a little for the sudden hug of the gigantic man, like all his peers he was tall, an eight feet giant of broad torso and powerful body, built to war form head to toe, however all the times he has been in the netherworld, he has never been so emotional.

"Greetings Pandora, I'm sorry, I failed" whispered the man and she smiled sadly, noticing the faint humid touch of a pair of tears over her neck and shoulder, she returned the hug and slowly made circles with her little hands over the strong back of the man.

"Its OK, Magnus, it has to happen but I'm proud of you" said the girl back, it has been so long since one of her children hugged her, she will wish it was not because of sadness and despair but it could be fixed.

"I'm sorry Pandora, I fail" repeated Magnus " the _King_ kills us all, no Campione has survived the ordeal".

"Fate is a bitch sometimes" softly whispered Pandora before broking the hug and look at the campione in the eyes, he was devastated in mind, body and soul, the _King of the end_ has done numbers on him, no matter if the _King _ was nothing but a pup after Magnus finished him.

"Do not blame you Magnus, you were the greatest and you has done what it has to be done" tried to cheer Pandora her children kissing her forehead and hugging him again, now that's how a mom should to things no?...

"I was the stronger of them, I lead the charge but then the Spartan and the slayer of Horus attacked me instead of the _King of the end" _tell Magnus the history of the battle.

He hugged back the petite woman with arms capable of crush the back of a bear but she knew, he will never do something like that, for someone so big and strong it was surprising how delicately could he be around the people he care.

"When I kill them, they left me no choice, I went back to the battle but Dione was killed by the Huntress and the others were already on their last leg" sighed Magnus " I killed the bastard but the price of the victory is to high".

"I know Magnus" Pandora smiled to the man, a true smile "but it was your fate, you were the greatest of your era, you did what no one could before, you killed the _King of the end_ and now it will be chained in the deeps of the oceans near Yamato".

"Yamato?" ask Magnus confused " what is that?".

"A land of isles long past the lands of the Bogovi and the Celestial Bureaucracy" explained Pandora " few of your kin has ever pass over those lands, there is nothing for them there".

"Uh, pity, I always loved to explore new lands...that's how I end as campione in the first place" smiled warily Magnus remembering how he killed a gigantic polar bear, that was none than the god Nanook of the Inuit.

That day was the best of his life, he has gained a place in the sagas of his people and that was all he wanted as a boy, well, that and booze, women and a good weapon at his side.

He always was a man of simple desires but the centuries and experience soon changes your mind.

"Do not worry, another will raise from that land and he will be as golden as you" raised his fists Pandora in the air, cheering the northern Campione "he will kick some serious ass and became as much playboy as you".

"Pandora" sighed Magnus, enjoying the childishness of the woman who knows all, literally as her _Authority _ was [Omniscience] and she lived in the Netherealm, the place where all the memories are stored, past, present and future.

"Oh, come on, how many wives did you have in life eh?" poked incessantly the girl the broad chest of Magnus with a sly smile on her face " not to mention the hundred of mistress that were after your bones no matter where do you travel".

"I never disrespect any of them Pandora, you know it" taped the nose of the girl who pouted and puffed her checks like any little girl would do " and I always was faithful to all my wives, I never cheated on them".

Pandora growled with a smile and jumped at Magnus, climbing his shoulders and back and munching his head in vengeance for the tap on the tip of the nose.

"Ah! Tremble at my rage" said Pandora between grinding her teeth against the white mane of Magnus, his hair became white as the one of a polar bear as soon as he became a campione and gain the [Polar bear] from the deceased god.

Magnus sighed, his headache was not getting any better and having an hyperactive kid munching the top of your head was not helping at all, Pandora get bored of the punishment not too long after that, not only the head of Magnus was hard as a diamond but the white hair of his tasted like cold snow.

Leaning her head over his and letting her twin pigtails dropping at the sides of the man, she sighed and hugged his chest.

"Not blame yourself for of what happens in the world Magnus, humans always finds a way to hurt each other, that's how they advance, through suffering and adversity" smiled Pandora in a soft voice, she has been the adoptive mother of dozens of Campione through the eras and always feels like a stab in the heart every time one of them perished, no matter if he was a devil or a saint.

"There are my people Pandora" sighed loudly Magnus scratching his five o´clock shadow over all his chin and checks " they trusted me and I left them and Vindra for a foolish calling, a quest that has only lead to disaster and to the death of all the Devil Kings and Queens, who will face the gods now?".

"There will be other who pick up the mantle Magnus" bounced Pandora over his head and chest raising her fist to the empty sky " there is always fools like you who don't know when to surrender and keep going".

"Ha, that's one of the best descriptions I have ever ear about the Devil Kings" chuckled without real humour the deceased Devil King, he was proud of his victory but the cost and the consequences are too much.

"I know, why do you thing the gods call the Devil Kings the children of the fool and the witch?" Pandora sighed leaning over the head of Magnus.

The hand of Magnus caught her her by the toga she was wearing and put her in front of his face, Pandora was a little surprised by the action and blinked a pair of times as she hanged like some kind of kitty in front of her favourite children.

"You are not a witch, neither Epimeteus is a fool" said Magnus very seriously but when he saw the teary eyes of Pandora he shut up, it was not his intention to saddened her.

"You do care!" she shouted and cried before jumping at him and hugging him with the strength of a polar bear, good thing he was a Campione, otherwise he will be dead by murderous love hug, now that will be awkward.

"Well, of course I do Pandora" said Magnus still baffled by the emotive reaction of the girl, was it possible that the rest of the Devil Kings and Queens are just a bunch of buffoons that do not respect the one that they own they miserable lives?.

"You give me the chance to the something as great as the heroes and gods in the tales I listened when I was nothing but a snotty kid" combed the pigtails of the goddess "I lived adventures that the Skalda could only dream, my saga is the saga of a god, an Aesir and a worthy Jarl for my people, although I do fear for them now that I am not around, that is not motive to not be proud of my achievements and all of that is thanks to you and Epimeteus".

Pandora hugged fiercely the Devil King, it has been so long since one of her children actually cared for her, he could visit more often but she knew that the campiones could only reach her in a very specific occasions, one of them was actually die and she didn't want to lose any of her children, not even when the _King of the end _restore the balance.

Suddenly Pandora stiffened and look at him very seriously, Magnus was even more baffled for the sudden attitude changes of the little goddess of wisdom, but when she shouted at him, he couldn't but laugh his ass of.

"Then why the fuck hasn't you called me mama once?!" roared the purplenette puffing in annoyance.

Magnus rolled on the floor grabbing his sides in laughter, that was all that matter for the little crazy goddess?, now the respect he had for Epimeteus raised a notch if he was able to put it up with the antics of his crazy wife.

"Pandora" tried to catch his breath Magnus and explain himself but then the girl kicked him so hard that send him skying on the floor for a dozen metres, Yggdrasil be bless, she could have torn him apart with that kick...

"Ouch Pandora, dully noted, never laugh at you again" raise a hand in surrender Magnus slowly getting up from the floor.

"Ah, so you are finally learning lad?" asked a strong and deep voice.

As soon as he eared it, Magnus entered in battle mode, his magic powers skyrocketing, that was the voice of someone who you don't want to fuck at all, it was the voice of one of the most powerful beings in existence and the one from whom Magnus stole a lot of powers near his first century as Campione.

"Oi greybeard how the fuck did you managed to get in here?" pouted Pandora raising and agitating her arms in protest with her fist closed.

"Peace _She who knows all_ and Devil King, I do come in peace and with an offering of food and ale" laughed in a deep tone the intruder making a gesture and summoning an enormous table, full to the brim with succulent roasted meat and the most delicious mead Magnus has never smelt.

"Ah, oh" drooled Pandora but she shook her head, clean her drool and look suspiciously to the intruder, who keep standing with a smile over his greybeard face " spilt it One eye, you never do shit if it did not means a benefit for your kin".

"True indeed" shrugged the one eyed old man, whose aura has nothing to envy the one of Pandora and who was slowly resonating with the one of Magnus, after all, he was the origin of a good deal of his powers " It will be foolish from me to try to scam you or your protegee Pandora, but fell no ill intentions from me, enjoy the food and the booze, meanwhile the lad and I will talk about how he has been during the last centuries".

Pandora look at the fest, then at both northern men, then at the feast and with a praying gesture as apology to Magnus, she jumped at the food like a wolf over a bloodied prey.

Magnus could barely contain his laugh at the image but then he stiffened again when Odin, the same Odin he bested in combat appeared near him with a table and to wooden chairs, over the table was a barrel of the delicious mead.

"Perish the fears lad, I came in peace and I will left in peace" said Odin filling a tankard with the mead, drinking it in one gulp and after refilling two tankards, throw one of them to Magnus who caught the tankard in the air and gulped down its contents at the same time as Odin.

"Now we are getting somewhere lad, came, sit and talk with an old man about Midgard and how is the life going around" laughed Odin and Magnus has to admit that the god did seems to have come in peace.

It would be the first time in all his life in where Magnus has talk to a god, excluding Pandora and other Campiones, and the conversation has not ended in violence or the promise of a future battle.

It was a welcoming change actually, this was the first he could have a drink with a god, and considering it was the god from whom he stolen a lot of more than useful _Authorities_, that has granted him victory in a dozen of occasions, he admit that his curiosity has been picked by the Lord of the Aesir.

"Exactly the same for the last two centuries" shrugged Magnus "some occasional fight with the Romans, the clans of the Tuatha, the Celts and exploring the frozen lands of the north of our lands, that places is a cold as the nipple of a witch".

Odin nodded, he too considered the people under the Inuit an strange bunch, there was nothing in that forsaken old land where nothing can grow and all the place is as frozen as the heart of Yimir.

" And those are good times" smiled Odin " but the era is changing my friend and soon we will be forgotten and new gods will take our place or transform us into a new ones, much like Melkarth and Sol".

Magnus sighed, he knew about those things, when he defeated Perun he didn't shut up about how the Aesir has stole his legend and give it to a woman, degrading the father of the heaven to a simple gardener and a woman.

It was bullshit but Perun was not the most clever of the gods and when he found about the apples of Idunn, he enraged and attack him as the most similar he had at hand as part of the Nordmanni people.

That was idiotic considering his first _Authority _came from the older frozen lands of Jotunheim and beyond, taken from the corpse of a gigantic Polar bear, the avatar of Nanook the hunter.

But, that were details for the enraged Slavic god who attack Magnus and only by a twist of fate was he able to turn the tides and finally vanquish the furious father of the skies and winning his [Storm] from him, that was the second time he visited Pandora and how he started to get interested more in the arcane arts of his people.

"Times do change Sigtyr" called Magnus the god by one of his titles, the same one that allows him to handle _Gungnir_ and to be even more deadly on the battlefield " the mortals will always found something new to idolize, only to quickly substitute it when it fails them".

"Quite a pessimistic view of your own race don't ya thing lad?" laughed Odin drinking from his tankard and enjoying the vision of the food devouring Pandora, she will never ear the end of it.

"Nordmanni are like that, we prefer to be prepared and considering our harsh homeland do you really blame us Harbardr, the grey bearded?" chuckled Magnus enjoying the spectacle and taking a sip from the mead Odin has so graciously bring to the table but then he look onto the beverage and slowly a smile crept on the corners of his mouth, clever Odin, very clever boy.

"We are like our home, harsh, strong and proud" laughed loudly Odin " and stop using Heiti, titles of the gods, call me by the name of Odin, Lord of Asgard".

"Pity, I had about twenty one Heitis more to run over you Lord Odin" smiled Magnus " and its funny because I only knew nine until now and please do not even try to hide your little trick with the temple and the presence of Pandora, she is so engrossed in her feast now that we could dance a jig around her and she wouldn't even notice".

Odins only eyes glowed in mirth and respect for the cleverness of the old Campione, he has been quick to detect what the mead really was and turn it into part of the conversation, it was too part of his plan but now comes the most difficult part of all this.

"Sorry lad, but I need you to be of clear mind and clever enough to see the benefit of what I propose this day" smiled Odin between his grey beard, his only eye focus in Magnus who returned the stare with curiosity.

What they were drinking was nothing other than_ Kvasir, _an elixir made when two dwarfs killed the god of the same name and after draining all his blood, they mixed it with honey, creating the _Mead of poetry_.

Anyone who drinks from the mead will gain Skaldaship, the gift of the poetry, and wisdom beyond mortals.

In resume, Odin has gifted him with wisdom and the skills of the Skalda to compose Eddas, the sagas of the Nordmanni and the way of keeping the old myths and achievements of his compatriots alive.

It was a tremendous gift and a huge responsibility and despite his laid back attitude and suspicions, Magnus was overwhelmed for the gift, Odin has almost gave him an _Authority_ out of the blue and he could not but suspect what were the real motives of the old god.

"Not the answer I was looking for Lord Odin" said Magnus, still drinking his _Kvasir,_ now that the cat was out of the bag, there was no reason not to enjoy the delicious mead, the fact that was made of blood and honey didn't affect him the slightest, in his life he has saw, taste and suffer a lot of worst things.

"I had a proposition for you lad, one that will benefit us all" smiled widely Odin and the glint in his eye did nerve Magnus, Odin was a trickster at heart that could make the most elaborate scheme of Loki look like child play and this time he was his objective.

Before Magnus could answer back a very loud belch thundered in the room as Pandora finished her meal and lay on the ground near the table, with a stomach three times the size of what it should be.

She was smiling happily with food scrumps all over her mouth and chin.

"Oi, grey beard" called to Odin who smiled at the goddess very amused for the scene " that was delicious, you sure know your stuff".

"Glad you like it lass" laughed the Lord of Asgard " now, can we have talk about the future of your favourite Devil King, he has already healed fully and it is time to let him go".

Magnus stiffened, wait, he was death, that's final, the power completely evaporated him and the body of the _King of the end_ who will be buried for millenniums until he is capable of being summoned back in the world of the living.

But if thats the case...why was he not in Valhalla, not in Hell, he was standing in the Netherworld and that means he was recovering as when the [Golden apples] of Idunn were recovering his body from the clutches of death.

Damn _Kvasir,_ it sure clears your head, ironically considering it was mead but he was sidetracking a little here.

"Lord Odin, Pandora, what in Surtr name are you both talking about?" asked Magnus " I am death, no doubts about it, so explain, whats happening here?".

Pandora, who has already recovered her usual slender form, starts fidgeting a little and reddening her face, meanwhile Odin hid his face under the bottom of a tankard as he was drinking a long sip of his mead.

"I...screw up a little" muttered Pandora not wanting to see Magnus in the face " your soul was damaged, your mind destroyed and your body..not make me start about that, you were about to vanish forever, your soul could not withstand longer so I..."

"She took your soul and reconstructed it with the help of Epimeteus" ended Odin " do you remember the three souls don't you lad?, _Hugr,_ the power of the world, _Hamr,_ the power of the individual, and _Fylgja_ the one who accompanies".

Magnus was never a intelligent man, leaving apart his knowledge in magic and the occult world thanks to his [Fimbulthurl] _Authority_, he was not precisely a savant or a Skalda but the belief of the Nordmanni were deeply rooted in him and he knew about the three souls myth that his people put their faith in.

Pandora was fidgeting more, looking at Magnus with teary eyes and tossing an enraged side glances to Odin who just keep staring back at Pandora with a _I told you_ visage in his grey bearded face.

Magnus sighed and take a sip from his _Kvasir_, he was going to need the wisdom gifted by the mead.

Ok, Pandora reconstructed his souls, no real problem there, in fact he own her big time if it was the case but the remark of the three souls was odd, what has that anything to do with?...unless.

"Pandora" said Magnus and the goddess stiffened, it was a curios sight to see such a powerful goddess act like a girl whose hand has been caught in the honey pot " what did you use to reconstruct my soul?".

"_Hamr_ and _Fylgja_" confessed her in a tiny voice, giving Magnus the tip he needs to recognize what was the problem here.

"I will be dammed" emptied his tankard Magnus and refilled it and emptied again much to the amusement of Odin and the nervousness of Pandora.

"Magnus?" said Pandora looking at the Campione with hope and fear in the eyes.

She know that she has messed up, just a tiny detail but there is was and for a goddess like her that was quite the screw up but all apart, she really liked Magnus, he was one of the few that actually cared for her and the balance of the world.

Magnus slam his tankard on the table, making Pandora flinch and prepare for the worst, damn Odin, why has he to meddle in her business like that.

The Nordmanni devil king just raise from the chair and walked to Pandora, who looked at him with cloudy eyes and a very repented expression on her face but she frozen by the surprise when he just kneel and hug the tiny frame of the goddess in his strong and powerful arms.

"Do not fret Pandora, I do not hate you, I am surprised and confused that's all" said Magnus and Pandora hugged him back with a vengeance, good thing his ribs were reinforced, otherwise he will already be crush to death.

"Great beverage the _Kvasi_r isn't it, lad?" commented Odin in the back with evident mirth in the voice, you are wiser now, and that allows you to see the real problem we had here".

Pandora hugged Magnus fiercer and glare Odin with all the power Pandora the goddess could muster.

Do not be confused, Pandora may act childish, is is her nature to be playful and carefree, an eternal youth woman who loves to play and to discover new things but she is one of the most fearful goddess there are.

She created the Devil Kings along Epimeteus, she Knows all, literally, there is nothing she does not know as she lives in the Netherworld and has access to all memories from the past, the present and the future.

Do not ever cross a scorned woman is a very healthy advise, Do not ever cross a scorned woman who knows all the ways to fuck you seven ways to Sunday is even better advise.

"Peace Pandora, I am here to give the lad a chance, you are the one at fault here remember?" remind Odin to the fierce little girl who was in mama bear mode.

When she heard it, her face reddened and hide under the chest of Magnus who smirked and combed her hair like he usually did with his daughters when they were flustered.

The petting did wonders on the goddess, who enjoyed a lot being pampered and petted like a good girl should, despite being a millennium older deity, she was as childish as heart as her appearance suggested.

She basked in the attention of her child, the most successful so far, not giving a damn about the terrible mistake she has made with him, honestly he had several different possibilities about how to proceed but she know that the hit for Magnus has been hard.

The soul that missed for him was _Hugr,_ the power of the world, that part of his soul that connected with Yggdrasil and tapped into the power of the world.

Power of the world, meaning supernatural power of all kind, meaning magic, meaning _Authorities._

Exactly.

Magnus was a human again, a complete human, well except for the gift of the [Berserkr], he born with that one, it was tied to his core, no matter how many times reborn.

It could be argued that the rest of the people of the world had different points of view against all this but once again, we are talking about faith and believes here, what works for ones did not work for the others.

Take example in what Moses did to the magicians of the Pharaoh when he freed the Jewish from their clutches, his magic and belief surpassed the Egyptian ones, simply because they work in two different systems and they are absolutely incompatible.

Not to mention Moses was a damn Campione and his spells were off the charts in comparison to the Egyptian magicians.

And how the hell did he know what a fucking Pharaoh was?, he barely know the Horus slayer and now he recognized symbols, forms, ancient lore of the Egypt...that was way different from his own epoch, he knew things that...

"Blood of Nidhöggr" cursed Magnus " how do I know all of those things?".

Pandora take his head in her little hands and look into his eyes with her own _Authority, _[Omniscience], noticing how much clear and clever was the old Nordmanni now and how was he unconsciously taking a lot of knowledge from the Netherworld.

"Ah, the glorious of the _Kvasir" _shrugged Odin, who was expecting that sooner of latter, the power of the concoction of divine blood and honey was inarguable, the aesir has been capitalizing the benefits of the _Kvasir_ since those foolish dwarfs killed the old, good Kvasir for making it.

"So you see it Pandora" said Odin, sitting more comfortably in his chair " he is a lot more wiser now and he could deduce now what I want from him and for you".

"What the hell do you want old fart?" shouted Pandora hugging the head of Magnus against her flat chest in a protective manner.

Magnus remembered how Vindra did a similar thing in front of Dione in the past and how that almost ended in a brutal cat fight between the Völva, the priestess of Freya, and the Greek Devil Queen.

Pandora chest was flat as a board and Vindra on the other hand was quite well endowed but he appreciated the sentiment and shut the hell up hiding his smirk under the white and golden clothes of the childish deity of wisdom.

"He is no longer one of your Devil Kings Pandora" Odin was not aggressive but his tone leave no space for arguing, he was exposing the facts and what is worst, he had all the aces for the moment " but he is a [Berserkr], meaning he is under my domain or better said under the domain of Thor and now that he is human once again, he should be already in his way to Valhalla or Nilfheimr...in fact I am pretty much convinced there are two ladies eagerly waiting for his appearance in one of those realms" this last part made Pandora and Magnus blinked a pair of times, look at each other and then at Odin with confusion.

The Lord of the Aesir sighed, by Yggdrasil, why are all of this fools as dense as a brick wall?.

"I do not how or when, but you managed to impress my granddaughter Thrud and she is eager to test herself against you as soon as you steps in Valhalla" the glare of the only eye of Odin contains a curious mix between parental fury, amusement and pity for the ex-Devil King " on the other hand Hella is eager to enslave you for all eternity in the halls of _Eljudnir, _binding you eternally at her service; you truly are an unlucky one lad".

"Yggdrasil curse me" muttered Magnus, how did he managed to dig himself such a deep hole " I am mortal now Lord Odin, both of them will rip me apart, even as Devil King I will be pressed back to survive the wrath or attentions of such goddess".

"My thoughts exactly lad" chuckled Odin " I do love my granddaughter but she is to infatuated with Midgard and she is convinced that you are the best Midgard has to offer" Odins glare observe Magnus and he stiffened unconscious at that glare, that was the glare of Yggr, the terrible god that brings terror to the enemies of the Aesir " something that has proven to be true when you defeated the cursed _King of the end_".

Pandora was smiling with maternal proud for how successful was his boy with the dames but on the other hand, she turned to Magnus and start berating him for being such a womanizer.

"Magnus, I told you a thousand times, you damn playboy!" shouted Pandora at the Nordmanni ex-Devil King who was confuse about what playboy means, until the knowledge filled his brain and he shook his head, that was completely different from how he treated women.

By the blood of Fenrir, he was totally devote to his wives, he has never cheated on them once they were married, he has had twelve wives in all his half a millennium live and the mistress was a topic that he didn't wanted to talk about.

Dione was in that topic and it was a very recent wound thank you.

"We are getting sidetracked here Pandora" grumbled Odin who watch in amusement how the tiny goddess was grinding the eight feet tall nordmanni like a mother an spoiled child.

"In any case, you prevented both destinies to happen when you recreated his body, otherwise his soul would have not endured the travel and would have been destroyed before it could arrive to his destiny whatever it is".

Magnus pick up Pandora by the waist and raise in the air, as the goddess keep scolding him but he laughed and hugged the goddess shutting her up.

"Thanks for the save Pandora" smiled him hugging the woman and letting her standing in the floor, flustered and a little confused.

"You welcome..." her expression reddened a little but then she raise her head and pointed at him "Ah!, no mister you will listen to me, you are too kind, you damn flirt machine!" retake the scolding Pandora.

But Odin clear his throat with a loud grumble and cut her ramblings, reminding her about the main topic here.

"He is no longer yours Pandora, I thought that was already clear" repeated Odin, as they do not seems to realize what that means " he is for the Aesir now and as soon as you release him, he will be free to travel to his original destiny".

"Never!" put Pandora his fist on his waist defying Odin " he is one of my children, the best so far and I would not allow you to cause him any harm".

Magnus smiled, he was touched by the protectiveness of Pandora despite her little mess up with his regeneration, she has done already more than enough and he could forgive the woman for the mistake, after all, he died already and she has saved him from complete obliteration.

"Then I think we can make a deal" smiled Odin and Magnus didn't like at all the glint his eye " the only one he will be free from Valhalla or Nilfheimr is that he became a Devil King again and to embrace Yggdrasil, so the World Tree could judge what is his real destiny".

Pandora stared at the northern god frowning, she could battle the damn old coat and force him to abandon this realm but he was right, Magnus was tied to the Aesir, it was his faith and he will join his peers in the realm of the Myth of the Northern underworld but she will be dammed if she let her son be pushed around by that tomboy Thurd or being chained by that hussy Hella.

"The last part of the puzzle Pandora is the piece you miss when the soul of the lad ended here as all Devil King do" said Odin revealing a light blue orb, a orb that resonated with Odin, making his divine essence flood the room.

"[Valfödhr]" said Pandora and Magnus at the same time, accurately deducting how has Odin managed to acquire that soul and what contains.

Valfödhr is one of the sacred _Heiti _names that is given to Odin in the _Edda_, the father of the deceased, that means he could guide the spirits to the Underworld and in the wild hunt, as an attribute of Odin he had control over spectres, ghost and undead, and in this case, that includes the soul of Magnus.

"True" nodded Odin " I am the guide of the death and I recognize your soul the moment it departed from Midgard, it was not easy but I could track it before it disintegrate and be forever lost".

"What is what you need of me Lord Odin?" ask Magnus putting a hand over Pandora shoulder to quell her protest before it begins " this is not a negotiation, is the announcement of my complete slavery to the Aesir and more exactly, to you".

"You are mistaken lad, I do want an slave, why should I?, you had done one of the greatest job I have eve seen in ruling and protecting our people, the Nordmanni" smiled Odin, confusing both of them " not to mention you managed to vanquish a piece of me and reclaim his Heiti, something that no one has ever done before".

Pandora and Magnus shared a look, Odin has been clear in the point that he had all the aces in the deck but instead of calling his win, he was looking for something else and despite all the knowledge of the world in their heads, they had no idea what the heck was the Lord of Asgard looking for.

"Still, not seeing where this conversation is going" said Magnus " what do you want for me Lord Odin?".

"You will not enslave him old coat" I assure you that, growled Pandora and it was the tone of the goddess not the playful girl.

"I want him to swore and blood oath with me" smile Odin and both Campione and goddess froze on the place, when the consequence and knowledge of what Odin was asking finally hit them, Magnus brain stop working.

_Fostbraethr_, sworn brothers, a blood oath under the gaze of the gods.

He didn't need the wisdom of the _Kvasir _or the [Fimbulthurl] _Authority_ of Odin to knew what that mean, he had done it before, when he was just a mortal and he was a young [Berserkr] under the stars of Midgard.

The two brothers will slit their wrist and mix their blood, letting it fall under the grass and the earth and cross together a sacred arch consecrated to the gods, from that day on, they will be considered brothers, like they were brothers in blood and one will take the place of the other, even vengeance him if the necessity arise.

It was not only a tremendous responsibility, but a gigantic honour at the same time, not to mention, he was mortal now, a powerful mortal with almost eight hundred years of experience as warrior and Devil King but mortal nonetheless, how could Odin even begun to think he will be ready for such a responsibility?.

"Lord Odin..." begun Magnus, slowly recovering his brain functions, Pandoras brain was overworking, she was almost steaming now that Magnus saw the gaping face of the woman.

She understand what Odin was trying to pull here, he was going to make Magnus a god...or something, he was going to slap her in her face with her own trick of giving humans the power of the gods!.

"I am honoured Lord Odin, more than I could even express with words" started Magnus " but I am human, how could a human rule over the Aesir?, I'm no longer a Devil King?".

"There are more worlds than Midgard" shrugged the old god " and more Midgards than the one you are so familiar with".

"Oi, Oi, Oi" snapped Pandora of her trance " you are not going to kick his ass into Yggdrasil are you?" quirked an eyebrow Pandora at Odin "you pretend him to walk into the Unlimited Realms?".

"Yes" simply stated Odin with a wide smile in his grey beard " I think he will be a good ambassador of the power of Asgard and the Nordmanni in the myriad of universes he is about to travel".

"Oh you clever shit" smirked Pandora with a similar wicked smile and both looked at Magnus with eyes read and wicked smiles...

Magnus for the first time in his life fell a chill run all the way up of his spine, he didn't like at all that glares.

"So new possibilities, so much things to see and discover..." muttered Pandora.

"So, whats going to be lad?" asked the god to Magnus " ready for a challenge worthy of the _Edda_?, although don't even think you will be gifted with power, you are going to earn it the hard way again" announced Odin and Pandora looked at the old god and when she felt the presences coming her way into he Netherealm she smiled widely.

Magnus just noticed a thug in his consciousness and when he turned around to see what was it, Odin moved and slammed the blue orb into his chest.

All his nervous system flared like a damn torch, burned with the fire of the stars directly inside him and replaced again for better, powerful, divine organs and senses, for a second Magnus felt nostalgic, it still hurt like a bitch but Magnus clenched his teeth and just endure the pain and welcome it.

Welcome back power, old friend, it has been a while.

The first time, much the same way one could lose the virginity or kill for the first time, that was a sensation that would never repeat the same, it could be better, it could be worst, but the first time for everything is always special.

And now he was becoming a Devil King again.

Magnus smiled and let the power consume him, let the _Authorities_ earned in combat fill their places in their soul, there was differences, there was some serious differences now that he repaired at the power that was reconstructing his body into the one more akin to a god and not a Devil King.

The power of the Aesir fill his body and Magnus Blacksson come whole again.

Devil King, Berserkr, Skalda, Thulr, Jarl, Father, Son, Husband, Lover, Champion, Adventurer, Wanderer, Protector, Ravager, Forger,Scourge, Bless, Life saver, Reaper.

The Heitis keep coming at him, accepting them all, as they were all true, they were all part of the man know as Magnus Blacksson, now Magnus Odinsson, revived by the blood and powers of Odin, Magnus has one last trial to fulfil before he could reclaim the name of Odinsson.

The power flooded into the grey dimension of the Netherworld and suddenly an empty plain was created, a mix between a grass plain and the frozen plains of the lands of the northernmost place on earth.

Four contenders were reunited in this place, each one of them with his own reasons but all of them has been challenged and none of them could reject the challenge, it will go against their own natures.

Perun, the storm Slavic god was standing royal over a powerful and golden storm that surrounded his body like a mantle, dress with gold and brown tinted wool he glared with hate to the form of Magnus at the other end of the plains.

Nuada, young, handsome, strong, royal and energetic, his blonde hair moving with a wind created by the storm of Perun, waited with a long and wide sword leaning over his shoulder, the grip of the weapon firmly grab by a silver hand that reflected the golden lighting of the storm; he was smiling at Magnus and raise his sword as salute and challenge.

The last but not least was the one who Magnus bested the first, an old and powerful deity who tamed the most hostile lands of the world and made it his domains.

Nanook, the polar bear that hunts the white tundras appeared in the plain, walking without any care in the world, confident in being the alpha predator, the one who decided who lives and who lives in his domains. The white fur of the humongous bear was bluish white like the pure waters and snow of his domains.

The power saturate the plain, three gods and a Devil King has reunited in a place created from their wills, a fitting battlefield on where all of they could unleash their true selves.

Magnus was standing over one of the edges of the plain, smiling as the power he possessed for centuries settled in his soul and once again made him whole, now he has in front of him some of the gods he has battled in the past and from whom he took _Authorities_ as trophy.

Before the inevitable clash, there was something he could enjoy himself before, a good old taunting and bantering was in order after so many centuries, it will settle the adequate mood for the incoming battle.

"I salute you gods" roared Magnus raising his hands to welcome the ones who has accepted the challenge of Odin " once again we will clash, once again we will determine who is the best warrior of all us, for that I thank you".

"Good to see you in so good shape son of the Nordmanni" laughed Nuada digging the tip of his sword into the grey grass and snow " I almost fear that you will have the discourtesy of dying before I could claim vengeance for my defeat at your hands".

The polar bear snorted once and his claws dig into the floor, scratching the earth, showing his anxiousness for starting the battle, Nanook didn't really care for the past, the Nordmanni won fair and square, he bested him, simply as that and now he will enjoy a battle with a worthy prey, a worthy hunt he could enjoy to the fullest.

Perun didn't even bother in talk, throwing a dozen of bolts directly at Magnus, effectively starting the battle between all of them.

A golden rune covered dome protected Magnus from the bolts, the glories of the divine protection granted by all the knowledge that it comes with [Fimbulthurl], welcome back old friend, I really missed you in this dark times.

"_I curse you with dark skies, I curse you with weakness, I curse you with fragile bones under the chilly night!" _intoned Magnus using the magic of the voice and the curse to weaken all the gods in front of him, usually that will be pointless as no spell could pierce the resistance of a god but when the spell is chanted by another god, that an entirely new matter.

Still he didn't hoped the spell will affect them for long, just enough to gain enough time to draw his own blade and run to meet Nanook and Nuada in the middle of the field.

And there came the first surprise for Magnus, the first and notable difference with the _Authorities_ he now possessed.

[Sigtyr] was one of the _Heiti_ of Odin that he had, the one that bring forth the unstoppable _Gungnir_ but Magnus did not find the spear when he search in his soul for the supreme weapon, instead something equally powerful but completely different answered at his call.

A powerful blade sing a metallic song in his hand.

_Tyrfing _ fire like blade clashed with the silver sword of Nuada in a shower of sparks, sending shock waves in every direction but none of the two fighter did actually care, as both were smiling widely.

Pity the joy of a clash of blades was interrupted by a sudden dozen of lightings raining over them without mercy, their blades danced at an astonishing speed, blocking and parrying the electricity and by so, defying all physical laws in the universe.

None of them give a fuck about, such is the privilege of the divinities, the Irrationality that can not be understand by those who are not divinity except for the Devil King, the Irrationality that destroys the Irrationality.

In resume, this was nuts but glorious at the same time.

Magnus sneak a glance to the sword in his hand, it does have a presence inside of it, not sure if it was sentient or not but the battle lust was undeniable, not really a surprise Tyrfing was a weapon aligned with [Steel] deeply.

A runic sword forged by two dwarfs who cursed it to be the origin of three great tragedies.

As long as the Poetic Edda was concerned; the Hervarar Saga included in the _Tyrfing_ cycle_, _that related the tale of the sword; the curse of the three tragedies was already fullfil and the power of the sword, one sword worthy of the gods was at the disposal of a worthy warrior capable of handling it.

The sword was a meter and half long, double-edged and with a golden hilt. The surface of the blade looks like it was set ablaze, with a constant aura of golden fire dancing over the runic surface of the blade as the runes emitted a soft glow at the compass of the fires over them.

Magnus delighted with his new weapon and a little take aback from it, it was new and at the same time, the sword was so attuned with him that it seems like they had been forever together, well, that will be useful, as he has to battle with two powerful physical deities like Nanook and Nuada, both beast and warrior respectively.

The real problem was that bastard of Perun, he will take the skies and simply tear them apart in a shower of intense rain and lighting, one could never underestimate a weather god, they always rule over the battlefield as the skies are their realms.

Magnus muttered a litany under his breath, now that the magic knowledge was back on his mind and with the gift of the _Kvasir_ added to the mix, he noticed how versatile could be the magic and not only the brute force curses and destructive runes he was used to display in his battles.

First of all, a little misdirection, a trick for the senses, no matter if you are god or not, the power of the Devil King could overcome the magic resistance of a god; and the other way around of course; and made them feel the effects of a spell as bad as any mortal.

However in this case, Magnus has no intentions of harming with a spell, not a curse, not an elemental attack but an illusion, suddenly dozens Magnus charged against Nuada and Nanook, engaging them in a furious battle.

The polar bear god was more than capable of sweep those fool enough to enter into the reach of his claws and teeth, cleaving a savage path among the horde of Magnus but not a single drop of blood fall into the earth as none of them was actually the real one.

Nuada was in a similar situation, as his blade just reap the illusions with easiness, the god was surrounded by a silver aura of power and his body was a living handsome man of silver that was cleaving a path among the mirages like they were nothing.

Perun called the winds at his command, a sudden and brutal gust of wind fall in the plain, concentrating in the middle of it and start spinning into a powerful tornado of rain, electricity and cold.

Nanook just shrugged the storm, neither the frozen winds, the electricity or the rain capable of piercing steel has nothing to do against his hard fur and snow white aura of power, his _Authority _ over ice and frost was unrivalled and the only real complain he had was the annoying buzz that the lighting made over his perfect white fur.

Perun focus on the storm and search for his objective, seeing the Nordmanni son of a whore die a hundred times by cold, lighting and water was a delicious sight but there were nothing but mirages, illusions conjured to distract them, Perun was no fool and just order the wind to search for the Nordmanni, he will not be caught distracted.

Unfortunately for the Slavic god, there was a trick hid under the spell, a new one that was not among the tricks Magnus usually brings to the battlefield, this one instead, was courtesy of the newest trick Odin had added to the arsenal of Magnus, the one that help him move like the wind, [Vidhrir], the wind.

Magnus hide among the currents of the storm, part of the destructive power of a the tornado, part of the flow that makes the natural disaster whole and by that, completely hid by the same power that was trying to kill him.

Slipping under the guard of the ragging Slavic god, his worst attribute as the power was something he had in spades, Magnus tried to win his back but then he discovered that there was a little problem with his plan.

Old habits die hard and he has been using and controlling lighting for centuries, he was accustom to it, so comfortable with the sensation of the power of the sky around and inside him that he didn't feel the shield of bolts that surrounded Perun until it was to late and he was send flying in a shock.

Damn it was like a bull has stomp his nerves, the landed in the floor in a very ungraceful manner but he didn't have time to recover and he barely dodged the swing of the silver sword of Nuada, the blade nicked his check, leaving a crimson trail over the beard less and younger face of Magnus.

"First blood to the Tuatha it does seems" taunted Nuada with a constant blur of attacks that leave little space for dodging, keeping Magnus on the defence but Magnus was smiling and replied back.

"You are late Nuada, first blood goes to the Nordmanni" taunted back Magnus to the fellow warrior pointing with his chin to the place where Perun was nursing a nasty gash in the chest.

May he had a shield, but _Tyrfing_ does not care of such things and has pierced through it as a worthy [Steel] incarnation, although they had been pushed back very painfully, they had managed to left a painful reminder to Perun that he was not the Alpha here.

In all honesty, Magnus feared a lot more Nanook than Perun.

The polar bear was older, stronger, more cunning and with far more experience than all of them combined, he was the ruler of the frozen ices way before any of the other gods tribes travel to the borders of his domain.

It was a miracle Magnus managed to won against his avatar, a mix of frenzy, forcing his body to the limit, luck and a miracle was what allow Magnus to raise himself to the status of Devil King.

"Ah, and they called me trickster in my land" barked the impossible perfect warrior and send another flurry of strikes against the defence of Magnus, who barely blocked all of them and not without some minor injuries here and there, none of them grave but they itch and will weaken him as longer the battle continues.

Magnus need some space, he was a good warrior, the best there is among mortals but Nuada was better and ironically without the silver hand backing him up with his _Authority_ over war and martial prowess he was way over his head in a battle of pure skill with the blade.

So, he will have to fight dirty.

Magnus called the wind once again, a twister of speed winds, razor winds that will have sand the bones of a mortal or a divine beast, pushed Nuada, back without even scratching the surface of his silver body, and make Magnus fly in the opposite direction as a hundred bolts like arrow poured over the place he has been standing not a second ago.

Nuada smiled twisted a little in a sneer of despise for the interruption of the Slavic god but soon he has to deal with another annoyed Polar bear as he has just slammed his metallic body against his fur.

The claws of Nanook were more than capable of hurting him despite his own silver reinforcement, that damn overgrown fur ball was a very nasty one when he is determined to kill his prey.

Now that Nuada and Nanook were entertaining each other, it was time for Magnus to put down Perun before he recovers and unleash all his [Storm] over the plain, no matter how resilient they were, the power of the golden apple like balls of lighting of Perun would be more tan enough to seriously damage all three of them, leaving them ready for the coup de grace.

The wind carried him but there was an oddity with the wind, he didn't control it as full as he did with the [Storm] and instead of the quick flying he was sent like a missile against Perun, well, not what he wanted but not completely undesired.

_Tryfing _blood lust flood from the golden hilt of the blade, hastening Magnus to bury his flame like edge in the flesh of the god and sate in his divine blood, this [Steel was quite the angry fellow, not sure if call the blade he or she, the conscience in the deep of the sword didn't react one way or the other.

Musings for a more peaceful days, if he survive this ordeal.

Perun raise his own lighting blade, in a similar manner to Zeus, he transform a lighting into one broad sword that he used to clash with Magnus in the air, exchanging strikes and slashes and making quite the light show in the darkened sky of the plane that the gods had created to this rematch.

Both of the were flying easily, dodging the wind torrents and lighting bolts that they throw at the other and when they dodge they charge the enemy trying to overcome their defences but for the moment none of them was able to bypass the defences of his enemy and the mixing and opposed winds and storms were devastating the heavens of the private realm.

For the first time since forever, Magnus could go all out against his enemies, even when he faced the _King of the end_, he had to be cautious not to destroy the lands around him, if he let loose the reins over the [Storm] he commanded in the past, half the skies of Midgard will be tear apart, the consequences will be terrible.

The great problem is that Magnus was experimented with some of the powers he felt inside but the others were completely new, in fact this was the first time he even used [Vidhrir], that was never been part of the original _Authorities_ that he took form Odin and he was having some difficulties to adjust.

He was fighting in the air with Perun and it was clear that the Slavic god was far better than him in the flying department, after all he was the lord of the skies and Magnus was fighting defensively for the most part.

He need a game breaker, something to break the stalemate of wind versus lighting they were playing over the land were Nuada and Nanook were beating the crap of each other, this was supposed to be a free for all battle among the gods, in order to get revenge from Magnus but neither Nuada or Nanook care a shit about all that.

Only Perun had his heart full of vengeance for the humiliation he suffered when Magnus bested him with ice and strength, the bless of the [Polar bear] he took from Nanook at the beginning of his life as Devil King.

Magnus look inside him, raising a screen of howling winds around him, twisting them into a set of tornadoes that made impossible to anything to come closer but the power of Perun was not to be denied and he slammed his storm against the tornado, slowly winning the upper hand.

The clash forced a dense and heavy rain to fall all over the lands but once again, the resilience of the gods on the floor was far than enough to consider the rain that would have crushed a common human, nothing more than a little annoyance.

The power was there, Magnus could sense the _Authorities_ inside of him, all of them calling to him to use and to won, they are quite the enthusiastic ones but there was something odd in the _Authorities_, some are familiar, some are not but all of them clammed for victory.

Magnus channel [Fimbulthurl] once again and submerged himself in the trance of the _Galdr,_ the magic of the voice, he focus on Perun, who was already half his way into the tornadoes and ready to zap him alive with one of his balls of lighting that usually took the appearances of golden apples.

Magnus ignore it, he was giving shape to his most powerful curse, one that he will never dare to try in any other circumstance than this unique realm where he was battling the other gods, he was going to cause a severe disturbance in the magic of the zone, one that will allow him to end the battle.

Once the power condensed inside him, Magnus open his mouth and shouted the curse directly at Perun, it was inconsequential how the skies was a thunderous stage on where the winds and the lightnings made any possible sound completely impossible to travel but for the magic, that was something secondary.

The voice of Magnus was inhuman, echoed through the storm, echoing in Perun and surrounding him like something akin to a nightmare, the Slavic god was no pushover and his magical resistance was of the charts but Magnus has poured his own god like magical reserves into the _Galdr_, the incantation surpassed the resistance of Perun and hit his core, sending a ripple through the sky and vaporizing the storm and the winds with a massive explosion that the gods below felt like a hammer over his heads.

"_May the death find you old,sick and bedridden, May the insanity consume your mind, May the dishonour tarnish your entire lineage, you are unworthy and unworthiness shall be your destiny, Begone filth, Yggdrasil denies you!"._

Perun and Magnus fall from the skies, when Magnus has recited the incantation, he did much more than simply destroy the storm and the winds around him, he has cut the _Authorities_ of Perun form him, for a few moments, before the god could force his powers back to him, Perun was not the lord of the skies.

Independently of that, Perun launch himself to Magnus, ready to break his skull with his bare hands, something that he was more than capable to achieve. However Magnus was expecting that and faking weakness, not too difficult considering how much power has he put into the spell, he called _Tyrfing_ back to his hand.

Perun recovered part of his powers and like a living missile, he fly directly at Magnus, who keep free falling on the land under them, the victorious snarl in the face of the Slavic god was more than clear.

_Tyrfing _draw and arc in the air and the sky exploded like a nuclear bomb.

Magnus fall into the ground, caving a trench in the cold and hard surface of the grey realm they have conjured but their wills and with clenched teeth he endured the pain that was shackling his limbs, torso and head.

Peruns head and torso fall in different directions, Magnus loved the dumb face the god has made when the finally realized that Tyrfing has beheaded him in a powerful arc, cutting through divine flesh and bone.

Magnus was smiling despite the crippling pain he was feeling and what is worst, he know that he still had two more to go, being honest he didn't expect Perun to explode like that, it does seems that he was concentrating his power inside of him so he will channel it directly into the body of Magnus, ripping him apart in a show of gore and electricity.

Magnus has been faster and beheaded him first, simply as that.

The power flood onto him, filling his battered body with renew energies and healing the wounds, burns and bruises, his strength went back to him and when he stand up from the trench he has created with his own body, raising_ Tyrfing_ and his free hand, curled into a fist, to the sky and call forth and old friend.

The [Storm] answered to him, clouds, winds, rain and lighting obey his command, the golden storm was back, Perun _Authority _flared in his soul, like a piece of him that he missed and now was begging to being complete.

This called for a celebration, and with that thought, shit hit the fan.

A hundred thousand kilometres radius storm erupted from all the realm, as Magnus called in for the most powerful storm he could control as soon as the storm was back inside him, Nuada and Nanook opposed the storm with their own divine powers and soon all of them were engaged in a violent thee way battle over all the place.

Each time they clashed inside the tempest, their figures silhouetted against the dark clouds when a golden bolt illuminated the darkness as sudden pictures, caught by the lights of the golden storm.

Nuada sword and the claw of Nanook clashing against each other, Tyrfing cutting the back of the polar bear god, Nuada punching Magnus chest violently, Nanook breathing a blizzard over a crouching under a shield Nuada.

Black and golden pictures of a battle that would have created a complete new set of believes if there would have been any mortal witnesses of the clash of the gods.

However they would be a little surprised about how in the middle of such devastating violence, all the gods, even the Polar bear, did not exude any maliciousness.

In fact Magnus and Nuada were laughing like maniacs, thrilled by the combat, so high in the battle lust that they didn't care a shit about anything that it wasn't achieve the victory, Nanook on the other hand was a more cold head but even him was enjoying the battle.

It was not much a hunt as it has skipped directly to the moment on where the predator and the prey battle each other to the end, as it has been since the beginning of times, the only difference is that this time, the prey has develop some interesting survival abilities.

Nanook roared and from all his body erupted a blizzard that tore apart the stormy clouds, pushing Magnus and a surprised Nuada into the air by the sudden and violent winds and snow that has formed around the massive beast.

All three of them were product of harsh and cold lands, so the freezing temperatures was not really a problem, their souls were born from the cold lands of their origins and in fact, after the golden lighting a little cold was welcome.

Magnus however felt something different inside of him, despite being a Nordmanni and a Devil King, he has never been specially resistant to the level of freezing Nanook can dish, so this was another present from Odin and his little scheme.

He would thank the old grey beard later, now his resilience was a very welcome edge to have against the freezing blizzard that Nanook was throwing at them.

Nuada created a silver aura around him and charged Magnus with his silver sword ready for a decapitating strike that was quickly block by _Tyrfing,_ thesword was exultant, after years of being forgotten in the realms of the myths now it was being used again, and in the most glorious ways, a weapon capable of killing gods, mus be used to killing gods.

The three started to fight among them again, but this time the blizzard of Nanook, kind of cleared the view, allowing the gods to something fight over the storm clouds and others over a field of snow as they could fight in three dimensions with easiness, walking in the air like it is solid ground.

Weapons versus claw, and none of them was capable of surpassing the others, not in physical strength, neither in overwhelming power or elemental mastery.

The incredible and impossible martial skills of Nuada was negated by the invulnerable skin of Nanook and the own skills of Magnus. The claws of the gigantic bear clanged with demolishing strength against the runic edge of _Tyrfing_ and the silver blade of the perfect warlord of the Tuatha.

The two gods and the Devil King were having the time of their lives beating the crap out of each other in the grey realm they created for the occasion, but as all good times it must have and end and Magnus discovered, too late for doing anything about it, that the battle has more implications that he suspected.

It begins when Nanook trapped the body of Nuada among his jaws and after freezing the silver body to almost the absolute zero, he snapped his fangs, cleaving the body of Nuada in half, the two halves of the body fall to the ground with a loud thud and exploded in a rain of sharpen silver scraps.

Magnus did not notice any change in him and he discovered that the Silver hand of Nuada was now out of his reach, Nanook has being the killer, so he will not inherit any _Authority_ from the celtic god.

He cursed under his breath and prepare _Tyrfing _for the battle against the last god on the dimension.

Nanook spitted some silver scraps from his fangs and raising in all his fifty feet glory he stared down at Magnus, with a cocky smile on his bear head, however the amusement soon get cut short when a lighting reached his cold and black snout.

This time was Magnus the one that was smiling and channelling the [Storm] he ride the clouds, ascending his way to fight the polar bear god.

A golden storm versus a bluish blizzard that freeze everything in his path, clashed in the fractured realm, none of them really caring at all for the environmental damage that they could cause, after all this was a fabricated dimension that will perish after their business have concluded satisfactorily.

_Tyrfing _draw blood and the sudden outburst of joy from the weapon almost made Magnus loose pace and be disemboweled by one gigantic claw, flying over the bear to escape from his demolishing claws, Magnus took a second to look at the weapon.

This blood lust was abnormal, he could understand the frenzy, as [Berserkr] himself once upon a time, the power and the battle frenzy is a powerful sensation but this sword just demands blood, well, not blood exactly, it demands battle, to cleave your enemies until they are nothing but corpses at your feet.

This was not a single weapon, this weapon was part of something bigger, something divine, its power emanates from a bloodthirsty, hateful and resentful divinity, this blade was forged to witness tragedy although his fate has been sealed already, the blade was so accustom to blood and carnage that it demanded war.

Magnus push that thought deep in his mind, there will be time later for inner searching, now he had to put an end to a glorious battle against the god that killed the first time and grant him the bless to meet Pandora and became a Devil King.

The storm spiralled in the sky, taking point at the tip of _Tyrfing_ focusing the power into one golden like apple ball of lighting that illuminated the realm like the morning sun, opposing to that force was the blizzard that emanates from the body of Nanook.

Seeing and noticing the devastating power the golden apple was, Nanook counterattack with his own natural disaster, the chilling winds of the northern tundra could freeze to the death any living thing when the blizzard is at his peak.

Ice erupted from his bluish fur like waves, the winds followed not much after, combined in a massive hail storm of freeze water that could pierce even the heaviest armour by the combination of speed, force and sharpness.

The ice shrapnel pierce Magnus skin, quickly drawing blood, not even the cape of lighting that act as defence and offence at the same time could protect him for the sudden and quick hail of lethal spikes.

He had to endure the punishment if he wanted to reach the body of the bear and pierce deeply with the anxious blade of _Tyrfing_ into the hard flesh of one of the most fearsome beast he has ever meet.

Being fifty feet tall, didn't precisely help to quell his apprehension to get into the reach of those damn paws of the bear, only one of those will be more than suffice to gut a troll in one lazy sweep.

Magnus manoeuvre in the storm, channelling the winds around him to block more efficiently the blizzard, he need space to free fall into the back of Nanook and bury _Tyrfing_ to the hilt on the back of the head of the bear.

The bear was not stupid and always keep Magnus on his sight, sending hails of ice and freezing winds to block any lighting or storm clouds that could blind him enough to Magnus to blindside him with that dammed accursed sword of his.

The old god recognized the power of the blade and hated it deeply, that sword grows on violence and blood, it carries the hate and the resentment of its forgers, three catastrophes or curses has saw the sword and now it only wanted to taste the blood and flesh of any living being in its reach.

As a predator himself, Nanook recognized the value of the sword, it was perfect for a Devil King whose primal enemy were the gods themselves and the blade has more then enough thirst of the blood of the gods for both of them.

Magnus didnt know exactly the powers of the blade and how it was much more now that it has been release from the curse of the dvergar that forged it at the beginning, it was now a god weapon, standing on equal ground with Divine beasts and other divine tools like _Ama no murakumo._

Nanook charged directly into the storm, surrounded by his blizzard and confident on being able to pierce the clods and the lighting of Magnus, trying to caught him in his jaws and torn his body in half in one go, as a sure way to put and end to the battle.

He realized his mistake as soon as his jaws clapped like a gigantic bear trap over the body of Magnus, the blood was convincing, the flesh being torn apart was flawless but there was a little thing that wasnt present.

What Nanook has just tear apart was nothing but flesh and bone, it does have his appearance but none of his divine powers, so it was a fake, created by magic or an _Authority_, that was irrelevant , at the end, it has fooled Nanook for enough time for Magnus to win the upper space.

Like a golden meteorite of heaven, the ball of lighting in the tip of the sword of Magnus find his way into the back of the giant polar bear avatar of Nanook, the energy burnt and melt the hard fur of the bear, opening a painful path in his fur, skin and flesh, deeper and deeper into the core of the old god.

Magnus could felt his muscles torn apart and his nerves grating at the limit, channelling and focusing such energy was something way beyond anything mortal should have ever achieved, even for Devil Kings, whose bodies are far superior to humankind, was something that will carry some several consequences.

He stopped the fall when the sword reached the hilt buried on the back of the bear god, the bear struggled and roared, deeply wounded by the cursed weapon and the electricity running amok inside his divine predator flesh didn't help too.

Magnus grab the fur of the bear, clenching his teeth from the frostbite he was feeling, it was worsening the already painful wounds of the previous hail storm of Nanook, the dry blood freeze over his body aggravating the wound with new cuts and blackening the flesh.

But he persevere, he didn't surrender, this was his victory and will not dishonour it by surrendering at the last minute for something as pitiful as a freezing death.

Roaring himself in defiance to the dying and pained roars of the bear, Magnus channel whatever power remain inside him and pour all of it over the sword, chanting a new curse directly into the bones of the divine avatar.

"_Weak and bristle are the bones of the prey!"_ shouted Magnus, ending the incantation of another curse from the [Fimbulthurl] _Authority_, his spell fly into the sword and through the runic metal, it exploded inside the body of the bear, doing number with his bones and leaving them ready fro the count when the ball of lighting continue to running amok.

Both fell to the land, one death and the other half way.

Magnus was exhausted, frost bitten and with half of his bones shattered of fissured, his magical reserves were a joke and his mind was trying not to think about all the wounds he had to heal.

One white and frozen meteorite and one golden and sparking meteorite smashed at the same time over the grey land and their combined impact shattered the earth with a thunderous boom that echoed in the heaven of the realm, dispersing the clouds and leaving only a starry night over the bodies of the two fallen divine beings.

_Tyrfing was _chanting inside the head of Magnus, exultant and delighted from the battle and the blood, the sword laid near Magnus, barely capable of grabbing the golden handle of the weapon as his strength was quickly fading away.

With the androgynous but numerous chorus of victory of _Tyrfing _in his head, Magnus closed his eyes with a wide smile, this was not a bad way to die after all, it only the stampede he was hearing could stop...

Darkness surrounded him and he let his consciousness went into that dark place, he could sense his _Authorities_ calling for him as he was now in possession of an entire new set of _Authorities_, some old friends like [Storm] and [Polar bear] but other like the one from whom emanates _Tyrfing_ was a complete mystery to him.

He won, he absolutely won and despite the defeat of Nuada at the hands of Nanook, he was enjoyed one of the best battle he has ever lived and for a warrior at heart like him, that was more than enough.

The wisdom of the _Kvasir _allow him know that he was now in his way to Pandora as the power of the [Golden Apples] of Idunn were resurrecting him, taking him from the grasp of the death; and Hella now that they are at it; and bringing him back to life. Those powers had failed when he faced the _King of the end_, now they will not fail.

It was only a matter of time before he awakens back in the realm of Pandora, the Netherealm where all the Devil Kings and Queens wait for their first audience with the crazy and childish goddess.

"Who the hell are you calling crazy you overgrown muscle brain?!" shouted Pandora slapping Magnus so hard in the head that he awoken instantaneously with a very nasty headache...again, this was starting to get annoying.

"Sorry Pandora" muttered Magnus massaging his forehead in a vain attempt to lessen the migraine.

"Well done lad" said Odin behind the fuming Pandora with a hint of pride and amusement in his only eye " that has been one of the best battles I have ever saw".

"Congratulations, you are back on the family again" hugged Pandora Magnus, doing a 180º in his attitude " I can not say that often".

"Thanks, both of you" said Magnus who was still sore as hell, hugging the purplenette back.

No matter how amazing the powers of Idunn could be, it was hard to recompose all his body and soul after the beating he has suffered at the hands of three violent gods.

At the end it has been his victory but the cost has been excessive as always, it was almost a non written rule, that every time a Devil King and a god battle, one will be death and the other half way cross the other side.

Considering the level of power they usually unleash on the battlefield, it is of no real surprise, it is been know that once upon a time, one fire god unleash his _Authority_ over an island the size of all Scandinavia and reduce it to nothing but a scorched and barren land.

Magnus knows that his [Storm] was capable of devastating entire countries, piercing the earth with the golden arrows of the bow of Perun, it was hard to be in the receiving end of one of those damn things.

And when one spokes about that attack, it could be equally applied to any other _Authority_ of the gods, from the ice spikes that has torn his flesh against Nanook, to the wooden stakes that Idunn throw at him when he defeated her.

"Now, I think we have a deal, isnt it lad?" smirked Odin and Magnus chuckled when Pandora pull Magnus head into his flat blossom protectively.

"Aye, we do Lord Odin" Magnus raised and raise Pandora with him, he just need and arm to sustain the girl like it was a little children, Pandora blushed red for a second but then she just enjoyed the experience of being pampered.

Epimeteus could take notes, Magnus sure knows how to treat a lady.

Odin take a dagger from his belt and with a quick move, slip his wrist, letting the blood fall from his flesh to the floor, he offered the dagger to Magnus who took it in his free hand and offered it to Pandora.

The goddess blinked a pair of times, not sure what he wanted.

"If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here, so Pandora, will you do me the honour of bless this ritual of brotherhood?" explained Magnus with a smile and Pandora fell warm inside, it was the first time any of her adoptive children ask something like this.

She took the dagger and despite his childlike appearance, she perform a flawless cut on the wrist of the Devil King.

Odin and Magnus grab each other arm forearms and let the blood mix under the attentive gaze of Pandora.

_Fostbraethr_, blood brothers.

Magnus fell the power rush inside him, changing the Devil King into something more akin to a god.

[Jotunblut], literally Blood of the Giants, the unique quality of the blood of the Jotun of the legends and the Aesir, the divine blood that elevated him over mortal and immortal alike and now it was flowing inside the veins of Magnus, fitting as one of his _Authorities_.

The power started with a crescendo and Pandora look dumbfounded at the miracle that was happening in front of her, this damn old goat has take her ritual and transform into something that brings deity to the Devil Kings.

Pandora knew how the Asgardian gods were doomed since the beginning to the Ragnarok and how very few of them will be able to survive their darkest day, now Odin was creating new gods from his blood, brothers in every sense as now his own blood flood inside their veins.

Clever, clever boy.

She hugged Magnus adding her own power to the mix so the sudden and overwhelming power did not surpass the will of the Nordmanni and destroy his new and very powerful body, one akin to the gods that he hunted once.

Magnus appearance did not change very much, what he did was to rejuvenate a lot, Magnus, despite his seven hundred years more or less, became a god slayer when he was in his thirties, a very advance age for an epoch that the media of living was the fifties.

His body lost the scars, his muscles became young and strong as they were on his prime and his white mane recover his black reddish colour, what didnt change were his honeyed eyes that has captivated several females along his life.

In essence, he was young again, back in his twenties, when he was at his prime and ready for take the world by the axe.

What captivated Pandora what the dance and the power that the soul of Magnus did posses.

She knew that the Nordmanni had a set of believes in how the soul was divided in three different parts, each one of them different an equally powerful.

_Hugr_, the power of the world, in this case the _Authorities_ of Magnus that were composing themselves as runes, as they fused with the new god that Magnus was.

_Hamr,_ the power of the individual, the one that manifest what is inside of each one of the persons, the one that changes the mood, the emotions and what does an individual unique, now that he was a god, it was quite a good thing to see that his core was not altered very much.

_Fylgja_, the one that companies, a spectre that resembles the pure essence of the individual, and some times an animal if the person is so attuned with an animal that his essence does resemble one. This was was slowly transforming into a precious bluish white bear roaring as the lord of his lands, the frozen tundras of the North.

Pandora was delighted from the spectacle, a new one in all her years of existence and a little frightened for what the damn Grey beard has just done to her favourite Devil King, the only one in centuries that has show any kindness to her, well, the Kusanagi kid will do in the future but that a thousand years ahead more or less.

The wound on their wrist healed as the power transfusion worked his magic on Magnus, [Jotunblut] was a potent shit anyways, it gives him, literally, the body of a god.

The ritual ended and Pandora cheered, as enthusiastically as ever, the reborn god Magnus Odinsson, Devil King and God all in one.

"I welcome you to the family Magnus" said Odin his name for the first time in all the conversation and Magnus hugged the petite frame of the goddess in response from the cheering.

"I am honoured Odin" replied Magnus treating the old and powerful god, like the brother he was now.

Pandora climbed his body and sat over his broad shoulders, raising her fist to the empty skies of his little dimension in the Netherealm, smiling like she has just conquered a mountain. None of the other two gods pay much attention to the goddess, despite being quite amused with her antics.

"HA!, suck on that hussies, Magnus is mine!" shouted to an empty sky and the absurdity of the situation made Magnus sigh and Odin chucle.

"Ready to test your new powers lad?" smile Odin flaring his divine aura and surprising a little Pandora who fall from his perch but was caught by a broad and powerful pair of arms in a bridal style.

"Surtr be dammed, I'm more than ready" Magnus flared his his own power, a power that had an unique resemblance to Odin and equally powerful.

Pandora blushed in the arms of Magnus, he was felling protected and smiled for how the aura of his adoptive child was equal to the gods now.

"Go give them hell" she pumped her fist in the air and Magnus laughed at the display, allowing her to stand on her feet with care and following Odin into another temporary realm.

The green and white forest of his home land saluted Magnus when he pass through the portal created by the one eyed lord of the Aesir.

As soon as he entered he raise a hand and a rune glow bright in the palm, blocking the curse that Odin has sent his way with a simple wave of his spear.

Odin has changed his appearance, one of the properties of [Fjolnir], the shape shifter, that allow him to change into whatever he wanted.

Now stands before Magnus the lord of the Aesir, the one that embodies war and victory, no matter the cost.

Clad in a golden cuirass, with _Gungnir_ in one hand and his grey bearded face set in stone, Odin was ready for the fight against his new sworn blood brother.

Magnus called _Tyrfing _to his hand, the flame like blade and the golden hilt of the weapon blemished with power, now that he know what really was the _Authority_ that gave birth to the cursed weapon.

[Dvergar Forge], the power and skill to forge all kind of magical objects, but the origin of the power was Durin, the second dvergar that collaborated with Dvalin in the creation of the sword he had in his hand now.

Odin called winds, raising _Gungnir_ and throwing a tornado against Magnus who simply counterattack with his own twister, created by the [Storm] of Perun.

This time Magnus counterattacked with his own curse and almost choking on the words, he intoned part of a _Galdr_, much like he do with Perun, but this time trying to aisle Odin of the winds he was commanding.

His third _Authority_, [Fimbulthurl], the master of all magics, was back with him, and he really appreciated his new blood brother to trust him with it, it was possible one of the most versatile and useful of his _Authorities._

Odin noticed how he was losing control over the winds and smiled for the trick the new god has used, he could had countered it, as he has saw it during the battle against Perun but this was a prove for the new powers of the new God and Devil King, something that was utterly impossible by all means but what has happening right in front of them.

Odin called his wolves, Freki and Geri appeared from the forest surrounding them, jumping at Magnus with open jaws and murder in their lupine eyes but their human prey was more than ready for them.

A monstrous claw surged from the back of Magnus, as a twenty feet tall polar bear manifest over him and at his side, roaring his challenge to the wolves who charge with bestial glee against the bear in a battle that has been repeated through eons, in the deeps of the forests of his Northern home lands.

[Polar bear], the inheritance from Nanook, it was a bit different from what he remembers but in all, it was a welcome friend when the things went south and you need an alpha predator ready for the battle.

Odin throw his spear at him, a powerful, devastating, throw that carried the shadow of the spear all over the place, the most dangerous of the tricks under the sleeve of the lord of the Aesir.

The shadow of the spear makes anyone under him, fall under the command of Odin, when he was a Devil King, he used that trick only once to force an entire fleet of Anglos to torn apart each other.

But the cost of the power almost kill him, even with his god like magical reserves.

Odin, on the other hand, had not that problem and he simply throw the spear at him, no matter if he dodged the tip or block the weapon with _Tyrfing_, his shadow will reach him or he will pass under the weapon, effectively subduing him.

Magnus drag something in the air and pulled with violence to the side, as his movement ended, a dozen branches fly from the nearby forest and trap the spear in mid air, blocking his fly and after surrounding the spear in a wooden cocoon, nullified his shadow.

[Golden apples], the bless of Idunn that brings the immortality to the Aesir, the bless of the goddess who controls the flora of Asgard and by extension, all kind of flora all over the world of Midgard or any of the other Nine Realms.

Odin raised hi only eyebrow, now that was interesting, by blocking the shadow inside a bigger shadow, you diluted the shadow of _Gungnir_, making his commanding power useless, good thinking, it does seems that the _Kvasir _was the perfect gift for the younger god.

Magnus went to the offensive and pointed at Odin pronouncing a word, a rune materialized, _Nauthr_, the rune of the agony, everything branded under this accursed rune fell pain beyond measure.

Odin saw the rune and raise his hands, blocking the rune with his reverse and cancelling each other, but the energies blinded his sane eye for a second, enough time for Magnus to transform into a powerful falcon and fall directly at the face of Odin trying to claw his face and one sane eye.

[Fjolnir], the power of the shape shifting that Odin posses, it was only limited for the knowledge and the imagination of the user, it is needed a perfect understanding of what you are transforming into to perform a real perfect transformation, otherwise it was just appearance.

Odin dodged the falcon and with a wave of his hand send a powerful gust of wind at the bird of prey, the animal stumbled and fall to the ground before rolling a pair of times and transforming back into Magnus.

The lord of Asgard was enjoying the battle, it was not an actual battle to the death but a spar between fellow gods and by Yggdrasil he was enjoying the challenge, Magnus was a clever bastards, using everything on his hand to achieve victory.

Odin was not a kind god, Odin wins, no matter the methods, no matter the cost, that why he was call Yggr, the fearful one, but Magnus was now his own cruel and ruthless streak and he liked it a lot.

Magnus was close enough to draw an arc with _Tyrfing_, the sword moved in astonishing speed, searching for the blood of the older god but Odin surprised both of them when he raise his arm and block the edge of the sword with the golden armband on his forearm.

Draupnir, the armbands that Balder could bring every day from the original Draupnir and are presented as a symbol of loyalty and reward to the worthiest warriors and the Einherjar, the golden armband was forged as a symbol of Leadership and to rule, and it was hard enough to withstand the power of the former cursed blade.

Odin punched Magnus in the face and to the surprise of the grey bearded god, the man disappeared in a flock of ravens, blinding and deafening him with their loud caws and black feathers.

[Hrafnass], ace of ravens, the ability to completely command the black birds associated with death and prophecy and to transform himself into a murder of ravens when its needed.

Without need to look for it, Odin used his own powers over the wind to flow to a safe distance, not a second too soon, before the tip of _Tyrfing _pierced the place on where he has been standing and bury his flaming edge into the hard terrain of the land, creating a deep crater when the hit landed on the earth.

Odin landed on his boots and with a fierce smile in his bearded face raise his hand to the skies, darkening he world and starting to shift his appearance to something more terrible, [Valfödhr] , lord of the death and commander of the wild hunts.

Spectres, ghosts, and dead bodies started to emanate from the ground, some of them just appear like a blue mist before they compose themselves into spectral parodies of their living forms, other were more brutal and simply erupted from the earth, with his rotting bodies and rusty belongings still hanging from their bodies.

Magnus blinked at the image, an entire army of death beings was starting to form in front of him, an army that surpass him in numbers by far, and with Odin backing them up, none of his spells or other _Authorities_ will work, as the only ace he had to battle this was the [Polar bear] and he was very busy tearing apart the wolves of Odin.

_Tyrfing _buzzed in his hand and the knowledge flooded his mind, he was now a master of the death too, the _Authority_ however, only work with those he has kill himself or were under his command when they died.

An entire army of Huns and Goths raise form the ground where _Tyrfing_ was buried, the spectres of the old warriors were in very bad shape, their bodies deeply cut and wound but they stand over death horses and broken armours.

Hundreds and hundreds of death warriors and cavalry surrounded Magnus, who observe all the display alternating between the sword and the growing army of death soldiers, his mind knew how to command this armada of the death but this time was the _Kvasir_, the one that give him the clue to recognize what was seeing here.

_Tyrfing _ was a cursed weapon, he witness three tragedies before it was cleansed and the last and most bloody of those tragedies was the battle between the Huns and the Goths when Argantyr, future king of the Goths and his half brother Hlod fought for the right of the throne.

More than three hundred warriors and mounted soldiers perish in the last battle of the blood feud between the brothers and despite the Goths being in a numerical disadvantage of twenty to one, Argantyr used _Tyrfing_ to cleave a butchering path in the Huns and finally kill his brother with the sword, ending the curse but flooding the nearby rivers and village in the blood and the corpses of the fallen in battle.

Now, the lives that the sword took, before and after the end of the curse, was Magnus to command.

Taking the blade from the floor and mounting a spectral steed that one of the death warriors presented to him, Magnus commanded the charge, riding the phantasmagorical steed against the lines of the Wild Hunt in a curious repetition of the tragedy that cleansed the sword from the curse.

The death are relentless, they do not care for anything that is not their objective, so when the two armies collide, not mortal army could even approach to the level of violence and cruelty that both sides displayed.

No worst army to face than the army of the death, they far outnumber the living and they will never stop until they are destroyed all their enemies.

Floating over both armies, Magnus in his spectral steed and Odin with _Gungnir _ back in his hand, clashed against each other, sword versus spear in a battle of pure power.

Meanwhile under them, the two armies keep tearing apart each other but when the two gods clashed over them, the shock wave send their bodies, no matter the side, flying in all directions like leafs scattered over the winds.

A massive boom echoed on the skies, cleansing the clouds and the snow, rustling the branches of the threes and destroying all nearby death warriors like they were wet paper in the middle of a devastating tornado.

Both gods fall to the earth, landing loudly and roughly on their backs after the brutal collision of powers, both _Tyrfing _and _Gungnir_ were smoking near their respective owners after the power they have poured on them.

"Now, that was a good battle" laughed Odin to the cold and clear sky.

Magnus just laughed along the god and suddenly they found themselves again, in the grey empty space that was Pandora realm, with the said goddess looking at both of them with a deep frown.

"Are you nuts?" asked the goddess like a mother scolding a pair of troublesome kids " that was way beyond a test, it was almost if both of you were trying to kill each other".

"That is the Asgardian way Pandora" replied Magnus standing on his feet and dispersing _Tyrfing _back to its _Authority_, the sword did protest for the absence of violence but completed at the end.

Odin just stay back, leaning in his spear and with a mischievous smile in his grey beard.

For the surprise of Pandora, Magnus raise her over his head and stat twirling around in laughs, her inner child couldn't but join the laughs pumping her childish fist in the air and cheering the happy Nordmanni.

"I'm alive Pandora, I'm a god and a Devil King now, I burn in desire to explore new realms" told Magnus the child like goddess, stopping the twirling and hugging the little purplenette with fierceness.

"Good to you Magnus" said Pandora, lost all childishness in her voice hugging back the tall and strong young man that Magnus was now.

"Yggdrasil is open to you now lad" chuckled Odin, vanishing in the shadows, he has done what he has to do and now it was time to get back into the myth realm where he belong, the Aesir had a new herald now, a worthy one.

Magnus saw the three like portal in the realm of Pandora, a pathway to a myriad of realities and universes waiting for him to conquer and experiment, all in the name of the Aesir and his own glory, making his Saga the longest and more glorious.

Leaving Pandora in the floor and kissing her head, Magnus walked to the portal, diving into his consciousness to count his powers and check that they are ready for the odyssey that he was about to start.

[Dvergar Forge], [Polar bear], [Fimbulthurl], [Golden apples], [Storm], [Valfödhr], [Fjolnir] and [Hrafnass], echoed through his soul, telling him that he was ready for the incoming travel and eager to battle worthy rivals to add to his Saga.

Magnus put his hand over the edge of the portal and look back to a saddened Pandora, she hated to be alone and the times the Devil King visit her was always so little...

"See you around...Mom" said Magnus jumping at portal.

Pandora froze for several minutes, mouth agape and blinking at the portal that was disappearing at soon as the body of Magnus jumped through it.

Suddenly, the child like goddess jumped a feet in the air and shouted with all the might of her lungs.

"YES!, FINALLY HE CALL ME MOM!".

The laughing joy of Pandora echoed in all the Netherealm of her as for the first time in history, some of her Devil King has accepted her as mom.

Meanwhile Magnus was not enjoying his last trick, as he has discovered, the worst way possible, that the dimensional travels are a complete, fucking mess and what is worst, he didn't have the slightest idea where the fuck has going to land...

Well, it will be quite the adventure anyways.


	2. Chapter 2: Travel

Netherealm

Yggdrasil Core

Magnus knew this was going to be quite difficult, it was assumed that a being like him, a hybrid of God and Devil King all in one, bless by the [Jotunblut] of the Aesir, the _eitr_, the blood of the giant kin that were born from the earth as one of the primordial beings of the universe.

The battle with Odin has allow him to barely test the deeps of his powers, his _Authorities_ were numerous and his body was akin to the gods, in general, one could say that Magnus was dangerous and armed.

The soft whispers of _Tyrfing _ in the back of his mind was proof enough of the last statement, even now the sword demanded more action, and being honest Magnus would love some distraction in the infinite grey emptiness of the Netherealm.

Thanks to the _Kvasir_ that he drunk with Odin as the beginning of his transformation of what he was today, he knew that in this space in between, you only had to thing about the place you want to go and there you go.

But the real pain in the ass, happens when you don't really have a destination in mind, you could wander completely lost in the grey matter and you will never found out the exit, in fact the most possible outcome is for you to die of madness and boredom in this Nothingness.

Well, Magnus has been told that he had to go somewhere, there is a place, a destination, as vague as the description Odin has give to him, that was a destination in its core and that was what he was using as a compass.

Not the most efficient of the methods but Yggdrasil protect him, he had no other way to localize wherever Odin wanted him to go, if there is a solid destination since the beginning, he suspected that Odin has been deliberately vague, forcing him to take the longest route before he reach wherever he had to go.

Magnus love travelling and exploring, he was one of the first that discover the sunny lands of the Mediterranean, mostly by accident and to be piss drunk in the middle of a storm and to channel [Storm] in the worst way possible.

The adventure that follow that enormous botch was a tale itself and at the end of all that, he did create a colony near the Polis of Greece and meet the fascinating Dione, one of the most powerful Devil Queens he has ever meet and a strong woman that deserved respect.

He felt this was one of those occasions, times where the invisible hand of fate plays around with you and makes you fall face first, in the worst or most interesting adventures you could have ever wished or have nightmares about.

He suspected that there was a hand of fate in everything, the concept of the destiny was deeply root in his own culture, the three _Norns _weaved the destiny of mortal and immortal alike in their threads and the roots of Yggdrasil.

He believed that too, he has meet Urd, one of the _Norns _and kneel at her, she was a goddess of fate and despite, the eternal rivalry between gods and the children of Pandora, Urd was pursuing a worthy cause at that moment.

Magnus died once during that events and Pandora did congratulate him for being the first Devil King that has really collaborated with a deity for the greater good, not to mention, Urd ended quite smitten with Magnus.

Perhaps that's why the fate and the relative good luck has always being at his side, no matter how bad the things seems to be.

Having a goddess of fate on your side was always a very good thing.

Magnus sighed and landed in the air, walking instead of just flying like some kind of arrow in the search of an invisible objective. This way, the path becomes at last he will do something as he travels and could meditate a little about his new powers and how use them.

_Authorities_ are not a joke, they are concepts, they represent powers beyond anything humankind could ever dream about, uh, wait a sec, now that he was in the Netherealm he could access to the knowledge of the future and he saw the buildings and miracles humankind will build in the future.

So, they are capable of dreaming and building big?, good for the old good mankind, that was exactly why he, as Devil King, fought to the nail and bone for all of them, so they could found and reach that unlimited potential that resides in humankind.

Magnus has grow a bit cynic in all the centuries he has lived on the earth, so many years seeing the worst humanity could offer was more than enough to feed anyone, only his code of honour and the pragmatic style of life of his people keep him sane during all those years.

If all Campione..ah, yes the name they will be given in the future, he has been using it unconsciously, for the Nordmanni, they were Einherjar, chosen warriors of Asgard that will fight against the death and the giants in the Ragnarok.

If only they know what Magnus knew now...

But no sense cry over spilled mead, that was useless and depressing and Pandora will kick his ass nine ways to Sunday if she ever saw him moping again.

Love the crazy girl or goddess, its hard to remember that behind that child like appearance hides one of the most powerful and cleverest of the gods, she just love to play around and keep as much as possible the appearance of innocence.

She and Epimeteus were the ones that develop the Campione ritual, the one that allows a mortal to slain a god and stole their powers and abilities, know as _Authorities_, and transform the body of the slayer into something akin to the same gods that they hunt.

With great power comes great pain in the ass, something that a lot of Campiones know soon during their carriers, even the weakest of the Campione is capable of terrible devastation when the full power of the _Authorities_ are unleashed.

Take [Storm] for example, if Magnus pushed the _Authority_ to its limits, he would be able to cover the entire planet with a storm that will cut short the light of the sun and scorch the surface of the earth with absurdly powerful lightnings.

There are infinite _Authorities_ from the more pacifist and compassive gods to the massive weapons of mass destruction that some of the more violent or war oriented gods are capable of bring to the battlefield.

He know it well, he has fought dozens of gods, from violent ones like Perun to the witted Bastet, during all his life as Campione or Devil King, as he was called during all those years.

Truth to be told, he had the title of Jarl or leader of his people in one of the coast of the land know as Scandinavia. He ruled a little kingdom there, cohabiting with other kingdoms like Norway and Denmark when the trade or the war was needed but in essence, it was his land to do as he pleased with it.

It has been a good life, during the harsh winter, hunt, fish and survive trying to harvest something from the frozen terrain.

During the spring harvest all they could and let the animals pasture and send the trading caravans to the nearest kingdoms to trade what they could not produce by themselves

In the summer, sail to any coast in the horizon and earn fame and glory by defeating worthy enemies and looting their riches after they were vanquished.

In the autumn, prepare for the harsh winter that will always come.

It could appear as a simple life but the hard work needed to survive in each of the season was more than enough to keep everybody hands full.

Magnus was the proud defender and Jarl of his lands, his kingdom was not vast, in fact he didn't want to expand it more than he could cover at common horse travel for a day, that was the measure of his frontiers.

Pick a common horse and gallop from the entrance of Russvik, the capital of his kingdom, until the sun hides behind the mountains of the fiord, that was the limits and frontiers of his kingdom and it was not up for debate or for Loki twisted tongue word games or complains.

They have tried to rob him lands by all kind of tricks and scams, once a recently found port in the same fiord tried to set frontiers by using a damn mule instead of a horse, saying that it was perfectly valid to set the frontiers like that as long as they is a rider.

Magnus sat in silence for a minute, then told the fellow Jarl and his huskarles, his most trusted warriors; that they had a week to empty the port and find another piece of land where settle, otherwise they will burn and crunched along the port.

They didn't pay attention and just laughed at the menace, convinced that the agreement Magnus had with the King of Scandinavia will protected them but when Magnus unleashed the power of the [Storm] and [Golden apples] all over the port, they did run and lament for their stupidity.

Good old time those.

Still, he has always hated how, even his kinsman, were always trying to use him in some way, only to push further their own ambitions. He had nothing against the fact of being ambitious, in fact it was one of the most common traits of the Campiones, they desired all and the world bows to their desires.

During all the centuries he lived, he saw came and go dozen of different kings in Scandinavia and the surrounding countries and all of them, with a few notable exceptions, has tried to use him for something at some point.

From commanding their armies to kill a political rival so they could take the throne more easily.

In all honesty, he hated that part of his people, anyone could call Magnus an idealist, he believed in the honour driven core of the pragmatism of his people, that could be resume very easily in two words.

Be worthy.

Whatever you want to be, whatever you want to make or desire, it doesn't matter, what it does matter is to be worthy of your desires.

He meet philosophers of the ancient Polis that pass days discussing things like this to no end, Dione was quite the smooth talker when she wanted and now that he had the _Kvasir _running through his veins, he knew that he has gained a lot more persuasive skills.

That was an odd sensation, he was never a talkative man, usually said what he wanted and not payed much attention to conventionalism and protocols, the way of his kingdom was to be direct and do not waste time in hollow words, they will only make you look weak and fool.

Except for the Skalds, those could use all words they want, their is the privilege of the _Edda, _the poetry that sums up the legends and records of their people, make an enemy in a Skald was a sure way to be forgotten, a destiny worst than death, that it will only lead to your entrance in the eternal servitude of the death in Nilfheim, the kingdom of Hella.

A lesson good learned, Skalds are bigger than any Jarl.

For they wrote Story with capital letter, the one that will remains after you are nothing but bones and your flesh is in the stomach of a carrion or in the thrice be dammed stomach of Nidhöggr, the wyrm that feeds on the corpses of the unworthy.

Now he was a King and a Skald, he had the best of both worlds.

Wonderful thing the _Kvasir._

As a way to pass the time as he walked in the emptiness, moving to Pandora knows what destiny, Magnus look deep inside himself, counting his blessings, other way called _Authorities_ and start to deepen his knowledge of the immense powers that slumbers inside him.

Firs the oldest of his _Authorities_, the [Polar Bear], earn twice against the old and poweful Nanook of the frozen seas of the northern tundras of Midgard.

Or earth as it was called in the future, curious things this knowledge of the Netherealm, it just comes into your mind when you least expect it.

[Polar Bear] contains the divine beast of the same name, a humongous bluish white polar bear that could reach the two hundred and sixty two feet tall height and about twenty thousand tons of weight.

Talk about heavy weight category, this bear could give a run for his money to even Godzilla...wait, who is this Godzilla?.

And the strength, do not forget the immense strength that the bear granted, that pure, raw force was more than welcome in any fight, there is times where pure, unadulterated, strength was the decisive factor that gives you victory over your enemies; he has more than tested that theory in a thousand of battlefields during all his long life to not have it well learnt.

[Storm] on the other hand, was a pure elemental type of _Authority, _it grants full domain over the skies of the world, he could create and control any kind of weather by creating storms of divine rampancy over his enemies.

He could fly through the skies and toss arrow made from lightnings bolts and make rain so strong that the water could pierce even stone, and he was just scratched the surface of what truly hides between the _Authority_ of Perun.

Not really a surprise he was feared and revered in equal measure, this could erase entire countries in a single burst.

However it was needed the sky to create a storm, he could create black clouds, he could create and manipulate electricity up to a degree but to actual flight and ride the storms, he would need to be in open air.

Those are the power that he has gained from vanquishing gods from foreign lands but the real lion share of his powers comes from the same gods that he worshipped as mortal and respected enormously during his life as Campione.

[Golden apples], the gift of Idunn and perhaps the secret about how he has managed to survive all this years of constant battle.

As the legends says, the golden apples of Idunn where what gives the aesir eternal youth and renew energies each harvest, in her _Authority_ lies exactly the same power, it gives the power to control he flora around up to a degree and If one dies in solid earth, fertile, solid earth, the _Authority_ brings back to life and heals all the wounds.

Healing capabilities, as the golden apples could be harvest and give to mortal, granting them a sliver of divine essence, healing crippling wounds, curing sickness and correcting deformities, he did use extensively this power to keep his old Kingdom safe and healthy.

[Dvergar Forge], the gift of the Dvergar, the creator of wonders beyond comparison, the ones that forged, _Gungnir, Mjolnir, Laevatainn, Tyrfing, Draupnir _and so goes the list on.

This _Authority_ was the tricky one, he could call and use whatever item that the Dvergar had forged, from the chain _Gleipnir_ that holds Fenrir to the collar of Freya _Brinsignir._

It was quite the armoury to his disposition, not to mention he now was capable of forge his own artifacts, as he know the runes and knows how to etch them into the core of an item, granting him powers equal to the ones of the legends.

However all creation will have a cost and much be forged with the utmost care, he could not create anything from the nothingness just by snapping his fingers, it would be necessary a lot of work and the correct ingredients, like the teeth of an owl or the steps of a cat, to be able to forge something akin to the legends he knew.

And then there was the _Heitis._

This set of _Authorities_ were odd in the beginning and they are odd now.

Usually gods are named in one way and as the time passes, they change shape, form and powers but Odin, along a lot of the Aesir and other gods from other lands, had the _Heitis_, synonymous, sacred names that give them a title or a significance.

Odin gifted Magnus with four of them.

[Fimbulthurl], Master of all magic, the knowledge and skill to use all kind of magic as far as he has learnt and mastered it, however Magnus had three favourites, the _Sjedr_, the _Galdr_ and the Sacred _Runes_.

The _Sjedr_ was the magic of the trance, entering in a trance of sorts, the thrul or the völva could channel the power of the gods and the earth into spells.

The _Galdr _was the magic of the voice, the voice that curse and controls the power of the world around one and the others.

And the Sacred _Runes_, the writing symbols that could change the world and produce everything you want if you are ready to pay the price that it comes with such powers.

[Hrafnass], Ace of ravens, the animals, along the wolves, that were more commonly associated with Odin, in this case Magnus had complete domain over the clever birds, being capable of even transform in a murder of divine crows that could sand a mortal alive in seconds better than a bank of piranhas.

[Valfödhr], Father of the deceased, the ones that guides the death into another realm and could command armies of undead, he could control and subdued spectres and take the secrets from the dead, as they could not deny him his power as god of death.

This grant him the right to call anyone who has been slain at his hands in honourable battle and add him to the armies of death that Odin could command during the Ragnarok, from those slain during the tragedies of the curse of _Tyrfing _to the _Hjadningar_ that serves as personal war band of Odin.

And last but not least, [Fjolnir], The Shape shifter. The ability to change shape and form, as long as he knows what he is changing into, he must now the name of what he was changing into, otherwise it will only be aesthetic changes and nothing more.

He could change into a dragon, but he will not fly, as he doesn't know how does the wings works on the wyrm, he couldn't breath fire as he didn't know how does the wyrm does it, he could picture his immense strength and resilience, he could sharp his talons to the point of cutting steel like it was paper but he could not imitate the gifts of the wyrms.

In a childish act. Magnus start to change as he walked, his shape twisted for a second and when the tall and broad Nordmanni was standing, now was a dancing and twirling Pandora, with her twin purple pig tails spinning along her, pumping her fist on the air and smiling broadly.

With a laugh, she changed and where there was the little goddess now stand a powerful wolf of ten feet tall to the head who moved at a leisure pace, tongue hanging from his mouth and panting in white hot clouds from his terrible jaws.

In a snort, the wolf was gone and a impressive steed of six legs that galloped in the grey matter of the Netherealm like it was solid ground, his mane move along his movements and his muscles were moving in harmony, carrying the great warhorse all over the empty space with a grace that no mortal steed could be never able to achieve.

Raising over his back legs, he whined to the empty heavens and with a loud snort, his frame changed in a second to the familiar form of Magnus.

Kneeling in the ground to accustom to the change of sight and the dulling of some senses and the increase of others, Magnus stretched his arms over his body, unconsciously perhaps, he has taken his younger form, when he was a young warrior of twenty winters, when his body was at his peak, not so far in time when he vanquished the avatar of Nanook by dumb luck and became a Campione.

Eight feet tall, broad and powerful, with a body designated for physical exercise a brutal combat, his reddish black mane was shoulder length and hi had his short beard back in his face, in all he was a handsome devil of honey eyes that change and shift as his humour changed, a secondary effect from [Fjolnir] probably.

His body covered with a humble black boots, black leather and black wool pants, a silver mate chain mail over an inner protective leather and silk short sleeved shirt, a mantle of black cloth and golden trim with a crimp of steel and gold, with the rune Iwaz etched on it, the symbol of Yggdrasil.

_Tyrfing_ comfortably resting on a black and gold scabbard on his left hip and a silver and red glowing ring on his right hand with the rune Othal, the rune of the fortune, in his right hand.

Magnus sighed, he was dress as he was when he presided the _Thing_ of his kingdom, he always has one for pragmatic dressing with a hint of vanity here and there, black, gold, blue and white where his usual colours and he usually dressed in that tones.

Now that he could change his shape at will, clothing and trinkets will never be a problem...not that they were in the first place, as soon as he became Campione, gifts and tributes of peace form mountains in front of his Mead Hall.

Money was never a problem when he became a Campione but as all in his life, Magnus believed in the Be worthy motto that has ruled all his life, so he has work, sweat and suffer along the fishermen, hunters, farmer and miners of his kingdom.

What kind of kings does not bleed along their citizens and followers?, the answer was simply, the not worthy ones and those tend to not live long near Magnus, after all, he was a Campione, and the humanity was under them as they were under the gods.

Magnus frowned, that was dangerous, be proud of your achievements but the arrogance precede to the fall as Perun has proof twice during his defeats at the hands of Magnus, no matter how big you think you are, there is always bigger and nastier waiting for you to lower your guard and tear you to pieces.

Magnus eyes his visage once more and decided that, this will be his basic form, the one that will present as his true form, after all it was truly his real visage but with more royal clothes and his comfortable chain mail.

He rarely walked without any kind of armour, except when he battle gods, then no matter how many mortal layer of armour do you wear, they will tear it apart like it was only wet paper.

Considering the climate and the harsh terrain of the fiord where his kingdom was, walking around in chain mail was a very bad idea, once you sail, leather is the right choice as armour, even the strongest men had difficulties to swim with a chain mail on.

For the Campiones however, it was not a problem at all, they are stronger and sturdier than the common mortal.

He shape shifted once more into a powerful falcon and with a flap of his wings, he set flight into the grey vastness, after all, despite supposedly having all the time of the world to walk around to his destiny, Magnus hate to be fooling around.

There was a reason why he was changing so quickly and into different forms, it was something that he learn when he inherited [Polar Bear] for the first time, it is incredible different how you perceive the world when you are a massive bear, sight, hearing, smell, tact, everything was different and confusing.

Now imagine that you can change, not only into a bear but in complete different plethora of beast, from natural to supernatural ones and all of them with a different set of properties and sensing capabilities that the human; no matter Campione o mortal; could barely understand.

The sudden influx of stimuli could be overwhelming for the senses of the non-trained, not ready for the change in the perception, not to mention the change in the form, it was not the same to walk bipedal than in four legs or to have wings instead of arms.

Perhaps the most drastic change came in the form of the murder of crows, divide his body and consciousness into dozens of divine empowered black birds could be quite extenuating, not to mention, not available to most of the minds out there, a lot of them collapsing by the sudden strain of dealing with all those sensations at the same time.

Odin has give him already the gift of the Shape shifter in the _Authorities_ of [Fjolnir] and [Hrafnass] but even them, practice makes perfection and the less he depends in the innate instinct of the _Authority_ but in his own battle sharpened instincts, the better for him.

Magnus did trust his own powers, it was just than in a culture like he was from, there was nothing that comes without a cost or a price, and there was nothing like easy money, there is always a catch or a trap waiting for the perfect moment to jump at your throat.

He must confess that during his first days as Campione, he was young and nubile and a lot of clever than him people came to his grounds to try to woo him to their cause, he was innocent back them and was easily convinced when the honeyed words that hit his pride and ego were poured in his ears.

The first lesson all Devil King must know is that he was no longer a mortal and if you mess up something, you mess up badly, its a direct consequence of possessing the power of a god, the consequences of your acts, good or bad, are godly.

Magnus still fell shame for those first days, he recognize that there is people far more clever than him, he was far from being a genius, he was only old and experienced, not a fountain of knowledge and in those days he was not old, not experience and a lot ignorant of how the world works.

After all, he was a warrior, a _Berserkr_, seeking for eternal glory and fame that allow him to be part of the _Edda_ of his people and join the _Einherjar_ when he could enjoy an eternity of battles and feasts along the gods of Asgard until the day of the Ragnarok.

Those were good days indeed, pity for the eternal shame that he brought upon himself when he wrongly used the [Polar bear] to obliterate an army, helping an unworthy man to achieve the throne of his community, all because he has convinced Magnus that he was the right choice.

Not a year later he discovered that he has picked the worst choice possible, he did kill the bastard for the trick but the damage was already done and a lot of good people laid death and forgotten in harsh and chilling lands of the kingdom.

He has sent a hundred of new servants to Hella, he has dammed a lot of worthy warriors to the eternal covered in mist realm of the cold goddess of death and what is worst, it was because of his own arrogance and ignorance.

Not anymore, since then, Magnus hide from the mortal world, disguising himself under dozen of names and appearances, hunting alone in the green and cold forest of his homeland, it was needed the love of a good woman for him to see the light again and took his mantle as Devil King again.

Brun was one hell of a woman, all redheads he has know during his existence are and possibly will be without exception, it does seems more a curse than a bless but sue him, redheads were his little soft spot.

Well...all women in general, don't confound him with a pervert or a womanizer, as it has been told a lot of times, Be Worthy is his motto, that means that he has to demonstrate that he is worthy of the woman that catches his fancy.

Woman or women, Nordmanni tend to see polygamy as something very normal and structured, the wife is the one that holds the keys or in other words, who rules over the house in where the clan lives and the rest of the women are mistresses, who had the same rights and obligations as any other free people of the kingdom.

The progeny of the wife is the heir or heiress and the progeny of the mistresses could be, if they father recognize them aloud in the _Thing_, in front of the Jarl and the hirdmen.

Magnus has had hundred of children, everyone of them unique in their own ways but none of them as powerful as the Campione that fathered them, it was something that he discover soon after his first marriage, his powers did no pass to the next generation, nor in blood, nor in spirit.

No doubt they were better than the common mortal in body and mind, but they were not supernatural, something that disturbed and relieved Magnus in equal measure.

Disturbed because that means he will not have a divine empowered descendant and when the supernatural hit at their walls, there will be a time where he would not be there to defend his people from the things that preys on the mortals.

And relieved that they will not carry the immense burden and infamy of a Devil King, meaning they could be free from those chains and reach whatever destiny they wanted, without the interference of the supernatural in their lives.

Enough of that did they already have with their father around, as he survived all of them, Magnus has buried and burned in ceremonial pyres, more than enough of his sons and daughter. That sadness was not something that forgets easily and with all things, first was the hardest one.

Being ageless was a fucking curse, specially when you saw your dearest people age and die, to see your comrades and brothers in arms age and weaken, incapable of following you into the battlefield as you did not feel the cruel bite of the age.

Hard lesson that one, all century old Campiones had to take it to the heart, you are going to lost people, being it in battle or by when the old age finally caught them, harden your heart and endure the pain but never cut bounds with the people around you.

That is the sure way to madness and corruption, as a lot of Campione has grow incapable of enduring the weight of the existence of the Devil King and became twisted parodies of their greatness, some of them, even posing as gods for their people.

It was not how Magnus did things in the past, he did rule by power and authority, he did rule by demonstrating that he was worthy of rule his kin, due his achievements in life and for the deeds he has done as Devil King.

Insight was 50/50 in this cases and for the moment, he was pretty much convinced that he has done a great job, could have been worst, could have been better but he do what he could with what he had and that was more then enough for him.

A tinge of sadness affected him as he travelled to his destination, wherever it could be, as he remembered that his kingdom will be without protection right now, it will be defenceless against vindictive gods like Perun who tried to settle the score with the progeny of Magnus as he could not settle his vengeance in the Campione now that he was death at the hands of the _King of the End._

He hoped that Odin as his _Fostbraethr_, will be more than able to protect his kin from the rage of the ill tempered Bogovi god, specially when his kingdom was one of the closest from the frontier between the Slavic lands and the kingdom of Scandinavia.

Unfortunately, those were thoughts for the living, he had another mission right now, he had to find his destiny, no matter how far or impossible does it seems to be, after all it was part of the deal that he has made with his new sworn brother Odin and Pandora agreed to the deal.

Where the hell did they send him, that was something that he couldn't even fathom, not to mention he was actually sensing the will of _Yggdrasil_ acting here, the _World tree_ wanted something for him, perhaps send him into different realms as his agent, perhaps just lost him in the eternal branches of the tree.

_Yggdrasil _will was as mysterious as the mind of the women, you could never guess what the hell are they going to do next.

Still, he couldn't but worry about his kin, they were his followers, people that trusted on his abilities to lead them as their _Jarl_ and now they will be without direction and wide open for invasions from those misty lands of the west or the Slavic war bands from the east.

There was still so much to do on his kingdom, but there is nothing that can be done now, he had to fight the _King of the End_ and perish against him along all the other Campiones of this era, that monster was like their natural enemy, the one that changes the eras and the one that brings balance back to _Yggdrasil_ when the power balance was broken.

He could respect it for what it was and what it does but he will never forgive the bastard for the extermination of Dione and the rest of the Campiones, him included, completely destroying centuries of work and progress in one big swoop.

Magnus could see that his people will be slowly corrupted by the weak and lazy message of the Christianity, they will subdue their will with sloth, richness and false kindness as they had conquered all the mortal lands.

Damn them all, he could respect the angels, they were creatures of purpose and he does respect the power of the so called one and unique god they preached but after meeting, killing and fighting dozen of gods and divine beast, it does seem farfetched to him.

He respected the power, thought, it was immense and totally focus on total domination over all the lands of the mortals, he was going to found their asses kicked by several other religions, specially when the true gods came back to earth to know why the hell are the mortal believing all that bullshit about one, single and all powerful god.

Magnus blinked a pair of times, the memories of the Netherealm were his to take and learn but the information influx was too much, there was no context for the information, no basis, it was just brute knowledge that comes to the front of his mind, every time his mind wander for a second in something.

Impressive resort, but in the long run it will be useless as all the knowledge granted from the Netherealm will not last long in the mortal realm, he will have to condemn himself into a perpetual exile in this grey realm to be able to take as him all the knowledge and the memories of the world.

Now, that he had a mission to accomplish, that will be awkward to explain to Pandora and Odin, that have send him to another planes of existence, not into a overgrow play garden on where he would be forever trapped, with the only option of get back into the realm of the myths.

Midgard will be forever lost to him, as he could never return to the mortal plane.

No, thanks.

A sudden pull of his senses call his attention from his ramblings.

His head moved like the head of a wolf that has caught an interesting smell on the wind and he didn't need much to actually recognize that there was another divine presence in the neighbourhood.

It wasn't really a surprise, the Netherealm was a very common way of transit between the myth realm and the mortal realm, as the gods could pick up a form that could fit into the mortal realm, based on how they has being worshipped on the past and the names that they have actually received in the minds and soul of the mortals.

There was something odd about the presence, not really recognizing it, as there was uncountable gods living in the Myth realm and Magnus has barely know three or four pantheons in all his life.

However there was a tint of darkness in the presence of the divine presence near him, it was moving at a quick pace all over the Netherealm, it does seems desperate, there was a hunger, a frenzy in its movement that confused Magnus a little.

In the Netherealm there is no time worthy of be spoke of, the time does move on the outside, but weeks can pass here and not a day in the outside, as all things related to the Netherealm, the perception determines how the things are.

You want grass, thought about it, sense it under your feet, the sound of the wind dancing over it and soon you will find yourself in a vast plain of grass, colours usually depends on the force of will of the ones creating the appearance of life in the grey vastness of the Netherealm.

So, if the time is something relative, why the hurry then?.

It does not make sense, not to mention the filthy presence he could sense surrounding the divine essence, there was a brush of pain, hate, blood, agony, resentment, all of it surrounded by layers and layers of rage and fury.

He really hoped he hasn't just a deity of the fury, the older world was filled to the brim with dozens of rage beings that were only problems, he has to deal with a few of them, and being honest he hated when the Sumerian or Persian deities feel playful and he has to fought them out of his homeland.

He feared for the world now that there are no more Campiones in existence, no one will stop the gods when they land on the surface of the planet to do whatever they wanted to do, usually there was a dozen of mortal organizations that took care of things like cage divine beast and try to appease the gods by tributes and the such.

But when the gods are out for blood, there is no tribute big enough to quell their blood-thirst, only by the intervention of another divine being; something that could be as disastrous as the other good or the appearance of a Campione could stop the destruction.

Mind you that when Divines and Campiones collide, the damages are always catastrophic, the mortals hide in fear and cower of the powers that clash over the surface of the earth and pray to their gods for salvation and protection.

Magnus didn't have such privilege, after all, he was the one that kill divine beings, who does the Campione pray for?, in Magnus case he usual swore in the name of _Yggdrasil_, the _World tree_ was the only constant in his life and all the Nine realms were sustained by it branches...

And there it was again, he loosed the focus as the knowledge overwhelmed his mind and his brain tried to ease the pressure by rambling about whatever comes first to his mind. Magnus shook his head and focus on the dark presence.

It was not very difficult to actually follow the trail of sickness that the divine being was leaving wherever it went, the dark miasma was a pain for the sensitive senses of Magnus, the old Campione just feel that he need to change his shape into something more adequate to the hunt.

Without losing a step, the man became the beast.

A powerful wolf raise his head into the no-air of the realm and sniffing the trail of darkness, open his jaw in a mocking imitation of a smile, hastening his movements and starting to pursue whatever the hell was the thing that moved like a wounded rat inside the Netherealm.

He left to space for anything that was not the hunt, and with the easiness of someone who has done the same things a thousand times before, he moved quickly after the trail of his prey, don't really caring about what was what he was hunting, much more interested in the sensations of the hunt.

The high and addictive sensation of the hunt was echoing in all his being, perhaps consequence of the transformation into one of the most powerful predators of his homeland, in the forest of the Nordmanni, the wolves were one of the apex predators and no one was stupid enough to underestimate the beasts in the darkness of the forest.

A lot of lives has been taken by sudden fangs in the dark forest of Scandinavia and he had those lessons deeply engraved in his soul, no matter the time that has actually pass since he was a frightened child near the warm and comforting fires of the Allthing of the Jarl.

Now, he was the predator and he was after some fresh blood, really excited for the possibility of testing his new powers into a real battle to the death, the little spar he has had with Odin was only but a taste of what his _Authorities_ can do in the battlefield.

He truly hoped this little hunt could bring him a good battle, one that could push his skills and powers to the limits, to really know what he can do and can not and of course, find ways to break that same limits.

The dark presence was getting closer and closer to a piece of land he has never see in his life.

He was one of the best explorers of the Nordmanni, and after a disastrous expedition he ended founding a colony in the Mediterranean sea...where he meet Dione and that lead to a lot of deliciously confusing passionate relationship between him, Vindra and Dione.

Magnus loved both of them deeply, his mortal wife and his immortal lover, one was still alive and the other has fallen at the hand of a jealous fellow Devil Queen during the last standing of all Campiones of the old world against the _King of the End_.

He has learnt another painful lesson that day, not even the Campiones are eternal, no matter how long they have been roaming the earth.

Despise all his knowledge as explorer and conqueror of forgotten lands, this piece of strange land was completely new for him, he didn't recognize it, he just know that it was passing the lands of the Slavic, the realms of the Celestial Bureaucracy and beyond the realm of the Vedas, all of those were a complete mystery for him, he didn't have an idea of what were those.

Just pictures and images of gods and goddess of a lot of arms and with the most odd appearances he has never saw, it was curious for Magnus who couldn't connect with this strange divinities, they were as alien to him as he was for them but he just perish the thought and keep following his prey over all this lands.

The presence was a god of unknown gender, he could pick that from the trail it left of its wake and it was wounded, it has been defeated recently and it has been defeated badly, judging by the smell that carries the trail, it must have been defeated by something that could manipulate fire and by the slight metallic taste of the dark trail, it must have been with a sword.

That was not enough to actually determine who or what has been the responsible of the defeat of his prey, _Tyrfing_ could have done it and it will not say a word of the origin and powers of the one handling it.

What he does was to tell Magnus that fire was a very good tactic against this opponent, if the fire was capable of hurting his essence like that, Magnus will create fire and slam the face of whoever was his prey into the biggest bonfire he could create.

Still, Magnus has committed a mistake, something that he wouldn't have done in other circumstances but now that he was a little lost in the high of the hunt and the constant pressure of the Netherealm, he has run to much, he has been hunting the dark unknown god but at the same time, he was pursuing it, not doing a shit about his own presence.

As easy as he has sense and hunt the dark trail, the dark trail could sense his presence and lead him into a will goose chase until the trap was ready, and the trap was more than ready, specially now that he was far from his home turf, way beyond the reach of the Aesir, a foreign in foreign lands and what is worst, this foreign lands are very, very rude with the intruders in their territory.

The first advertizement of the ambush he has happily run into, was an arrow of pure darkness shot directly at his head, fortunately Magnus was one of the best warriors there is and his reaction time was greatly increased by the [Jotunbult] of Odin.

The wolf jump over the arrow with a snarl, mostly dedicated to himself more than for his enemy, he has been careless, he has been stupid, that were mistakes of pups and beardless childs, how come he has fall on it?.

Mentally berating himself, he changed his appearance into the noble warrior he has created before and channelling the [Storm] he counterattacked with his own bolt arrow of frightening electric power.

The source of the dark bolt just twisted like if it was made of jelly and let the arrow to pass through it and be forever lost on the eternity of the Netherealm.

Like a living mantle of darkness, it suddenly eclipsed the light of the Netherealm, trying to cover and destroy Magnus in one go; Magnus smiled and blanking his own eyes he tap into the power of the _Sjder._

When the dark mantle was about to engulf him, he pronounce a name and channel the essence of that name through his trance.

"_**Muspelheim"**_.

As soon as the name left his lips, the world around him erupted in fire, something that burnt relentless the blanket of darkness and force it to recede in agony, the sudden and high pitched sound like voice of the blanket of darkness would have obliterated any crystal and minds of any mortal nearby.

But Magnus was not mortal and the fun has just begun.

The fire soon vanish like it has never been there, only the consequences were visible in the charred body of the howling dark thing in front of him, he has cut the magic poured into the _Sjder_ as the trance left him vulnerable to attacks.

The dark god without shape in from of Magnus, slowly recovered from the burning damage, even a divine being have difficulties to deal with the fires of Muspelheim, the home of the Eldjötnar, the fire giants of the legends.

It hissed in pain and rage, it was twice the times where the fire has wound its form badly and its senses and emotions were already in the level of a pained beast, although that was not a good thing for Magnus, who knows that the cornered rat was the most dangerous rat.

_Tyrfing _resounded when the sword was unsheathed from the scabbard that contains it, Magnus was already felling the thirst for battle of the weapon as a constant pressure on the corners of his mind.

"Feisty, aren't you?" muttered Magnus to the sword with a side glance to the flame like edge and the glow of its golden hilt, the sword was one of the beautifulest pieces of weaponry he has never saw.

Magnus raised the sword and the [Storm] obeyed to his master, soon he was surrounded by a brutal shroud of lighting and dense black clouds, thunders and bolts echoed and danced over the cloak made of storms, a prelude to the violence they were capable of unleashing at a second notice.

His rival did not falter and with the burns and the charred surface disappearing in a blink, the mass of darkness started to concentrate in one point, taking shape and form.

Standing over a pool of what it looks like an smouldering pool of tar, a proud masked samurai stands, his goblet covered left hand was over the hilt of a long and vicious katana made of pure darkness, as his armour, devoid of any heraldry, hide his strong and broad frame, covering in layers of tar like solid darkness.

His mask was terrifying, it does resemble a parody of humankind with a pair of horns and a wicked and open smile full of fangs, its eyes were serpentine and hollow of any life, just a pit of darkness and coldness.

Magnus stare at the figure, it was the first time he saw a warrior like that, none of the countries and kingdom he knew had anything similar to that and the sword was unique, leaving apart that it was a divine weapon and more probably it will stand toe to toe with _Tyrfing_, this was the first time he could fight an unknown enemy of unknown powers with his recently awakened powers as Campione.

He didn't even bother in question the strange warrior, the Netherealm has already inform him that it was a samurai from the lands of Yamato, he did remember that Pandora has mentioned that place before, it would be the place where the golden boy of her will appear in the future...Godo something.

Leaving those thoughts for another occasion, Magnus smiled and cut down the air with _Tyrfing_ sending a dozen lightnings to the obscure thing in front of him, the samurai raise his free hand and a circular shield of darkness block the incoming barrage with easiness.

"_Not bad, this could be interesting" _thought Magnus charging ahead and sending _Tyrfing _ in a wide arc, with the idea of cleave the samurai in half in one single strike but to his surprise, the dark samurai not only parried the weapon with his own but it send a counterattack that almost rip his arm in one go.

Magnus was a warrior, one of the best there is and he never has saw something like that, this warrior was a master of the martial arts, no doubt of that, he posses the divine mastery over the combat skills of its people that any divinity of war should have.

The Campione smiled widely and send his own counterattack, forcing the samurai to make a step aside or be impaled by the flaming edge of _Tyrfing, _the attack of Magnus didn't end there and despite he knew of the superior sword skills of the dark warrior in front of him, he keep pushing by pure force.

Swordsmanship is not a science, you could calculate all you want but when the heart comes in place, it is time for the instinct, however and during all his life, he has meet warriors that fight more with the head than with the heart.

He respected them equally for their achievements could not be ignored, still he was not one of those types, he has always being guide by his heart, his instincts were the ones that dictate his attacks and parries, that was why he was so unpredictable, he didn't follow any stance or styles that could be counterattack or analyzed.

However, instincts can only guide you so far, and his opponent posses a level of dexterity akin to the gods, it parried his attacks and let his sword flow over the edge of _Tyrfing, _provoking a nasty screeching sound when the edged rub against each other, the katana attack like snake and in any other circumstances it would have pierce the head of its rival.

Magnus saw the sword coming at him and twisting his head to the side, the tip of the sinister katana pass without any harm at Magnus could see that any wound from that sword would be indeed, a very bad thing.

The memories of the Netherealm were telling him that the essence of the blade was poisonous, from mortals and immortal alike, it oozed with the blood of an eight headed serpent who was more than a rival for a god.

Magnus didn't have time for a story lesson, right now, he was more preoccupied with the fact that he was engaged in a very difficult battle with the damn samurai, the bastard was very good with that one edge, poisonous sword of his but Magnus quickly noticed that it was not by far the same level of skill as Nuada and other war gods he has meet.

Curious, at the beginning he has suspected of a some kind of evil war god or divine beast or ancestor from the lands of Yamato, curious land by the way, not much of his taste but he hasn't really explored deeply the place.

However, there was something odd with this dark being, for the beginning it has taken the form a warrior but the appearances did not match the skills and as soon as they have exchange the fist hits, it was clear that the dark thing was hiding something.

Magnus press the advantage, the dark samurai could have the skills but it does not have the same strength as he had under the bless of [Polar Bear] and slow but steady, Magnus was putting the dark samurai in the defensive.

[Storm] save his life when a bunch of bolts, that were dancing over the shroud of clouds he has over his body as armour, suddenly repealed something with violence, missing a step for the sudden distraction, Magnus barely blocked the edge of the sword that left a nasty cut over the clothes and the chain mail he was wearing.

Whenever the black sword has cut, a nasty, nauseous smell surge, along a tiny trail of black smoke, he could sense the poison trying to erode the reliance of his transformed skin, hardened to supernatural level and transformed to adapt the form of clothes and armour.

Magnus hissed and pass his hand over the cut, a purifying rain cleansed the clothes and the armour of the nasty traces of the poison, at the same time, he channel [Fjolnir] and mended the damages like they were regenerating.

Not very sure if that was going to deceive another shape shifter but for the moment, he was very sure that his own legend and name was something not very widespread in the Netherealm, in fact he was very sure that Pandora and Odin were keeping that piece of knowledge hidden from the rest of deities.

Just in case he was needed for something and his presence, name and _Authorities_ could be keep as a secret, very must like the case of the _King of the end_ but without the end of an era disaster that always comes with the appearances of the _King of the end. _He uphold the balance and there no need of the lost of the children of Pandora...unless they deserved to die, not the first time it happens.

With some distance between them Magnus increased the power of the storm shroud he had over himself, as a method to keep whatever has tried to kill him out of his skin.

He couldn't detect what has been repelled by the electricity but he was starting to understand how devious this dark warrior was, all until now has been nothing but flaunting his skills with the sword and Magnus has to admit he was partly at fault for falling in such a simple trick.

His desire for testing his skills to the limits has blind him and now he has almost paid the price. This was not a god of war but a trickster god, more akin to Loki than Thor, and he will have to fight accordingly.

Pity, he hated the back handed tactics but in a battle with a divinity, you must do whatever its needed to win, otherwise you will die and it will not be a quickly and painless death, you could pray for one of those, but unfortunate it will be more probably you will be submitted to gruesome torture before you finally die.

Deities are not good people, there are notable exceptions but in general, they are arrogant beyond measure and treat everything and everybody like their private toys to be abused and discard when they bore out of it.

Magnus has meet enough deities to know this to be true, however the side of the "science" he has discovered in the Netherealm, didn't seem much better, what magic hasn't solve, neither did the science.

Same problems, same shit, different names.

Humankind never learn.

But that were depressing thoughts for another occasion, preferably in front of ungodly amounts of mead, the strongest mead he could found, stole or distill.

Now, it was time to fight and Magnus pretend to enjoy it to the fullest.

First of all, he entered in a short trance and pick up the power of another spell of the _Sjedr_, so far it has been proved to be incredible useful against the darkness and quickly trace a rune on his own hand.

_Tyrfing_ was a blur as it deflected and parried all the dark projectiles the samurai was throwing at him, transforming its armoured arms and hands into a long bow filled with dark arrows of long shape and nasty tips.

It does seems like those tips of the arrows were designed to tear flesh, once those arrows where in the flesh of the enemy, removing them would be a titanic problem as they will hook into the flesh of the wound and possible infect it with the damn poison it seems to exude.

And once again, it was only a diversion, a trick to confuse his senses, distracting him from the tentacles that where surrounding him and tossing a dozen of almost invisible needles directly at his back.

Magnus has already perceived the threat and he just say the name of the brightest god of the Aesir, one whose _Heiti_ was sun, the brilliant light of the sky that pierced the darkness every day.

"_Baldr" _intoned Magnus, more than an aria than a name pronunciation but in any case, the effects were immediate and a sudden and blinding explosion of sun light covered both of them.

The effects over the black tar like skin of his enemy were more impressive than what Magnus was expecting, the two tentacles that have tried to blindside him burned in agony from the sunlight and the rest of the samurai was smoking some kind of nasty white and sulphurous smoke from what it does seems severe burns.

Still, Magnus did not hold back at all, and taking advantage of the sudden damage, he charge at the dark samurai, channelling electricity over all the edge of _Tyrfing_ making the flame blade spark and shine with power.

Must be said, that despite the damage, the dark samurai parried and blocked all the furious barrage of attacks of Magnus with unnatural yet impressive swordsmanship skills, the dark katana was nicked and smoking and the edge of _Tyrfing_ was slowly eating it with fire and electricity but it did hold his ground.

The swords clashed a hundred of times in a moment, each of them looking for a hole in the defences of its enemy and didn't found anyone, not really a surprise but Magnus has to admit that his respect for whatever Yamato deity this was, he has win his respect for his martial skill and determination.

A dozen of shadow spears appeared from the charred chest of the samurai, catching Magnus by surprise and forcing him to dodge and block the counterattack, now his suspicions about a shape shifting trickster god were corroborated.

What he fighting with Yamato version of Loki?, that will be hilarious, he didn't even set foot on the land of the future favourite of Pandora and he was already battling one of their deities or kamis as they tend to call them.

Not the best way to present himself but the opportunity was too good to let it go.

The spears didn't stop when Magnus jumped backwards in order to dodge them, they followed him like blood hounds, he suspected that they were slowly guiding him into a trap and that will be something that he could use as his advantage.

More and more spears joined the attack and when Magnus counted the sixty three of them, he bored of the game and with a frown discharged enough electricity to empower a middle populated city for a week.

The lightnings net block and perish all the spears, but when they do, Magnus suddenly fell himself surrounded by darkness, his electric net was the only thing that illuminated his surroundings and he could start to notice how slowly was the poison filling the enclosed space.

Not bad, caging and forcing your opponent to inhale a deadly poison as he could be more preoccupied with the attacks that could come from any direction, like the spears and the tentacles that had attacked previously.

But Magnus had his own trick under his sleeve, this overwhelming the enemy in darkness could be useful against most opponents but with one that could call in the sun light or divine torching flames, it could be a double edged sword.

As soon as he has surrounded, he has discovered that the darkness seems to feed on the light that his electric net was producing, feeding and weakening the construct and at the same time, make the darkness more powerful.

As the sun destroy the darkness in the day, the night destroy the sun in the darkness, you can have one without the other.

So, if the darkness was hungry, he was going to give him a damn feast, so much that it will choke on it.

Raising _Tyrfing_ and pointing the sword to the upper side of the darkness surrounding him, Magnus channel a shit ton of power into a beam of electricity, as a pillar of golden light, the beam slammed against the darkness and he smirked when he listen to the painful shrieks of the dark deity.

But the darkness did not recede as it enter in a duel of power against the beam of light, Magnus has planned that and meanwhile the light and the darkness tried to overcome each other, he moved his free hand in front of him and revealed the rune written over his skin in gold lines.

_Hagall_, the rune of the natural disasters, the destruction and the catastrophes.

As soon as Magnus released his control over the power contained by the sacred rune, a volcano erupted directly between them.

Magnus was a young whelp when they sailing near the coast of the Saxons, they were fishing and looking for a good battle but in the horizon they see a dark cloud that covered the sky with a black mist that send shivers in all their spines.

At the beginning they feared that the _Eldjötnar_, the fire giants, were invading Midgard but then a thunderous boom echoed in the distance and one of the biggest, strongest sea storms Magnus has ever suffered, send them deep into the the south, far from the red and yellow explosions and black skies.

It was not until much later that he know that it was called Volcanoes, pure manifestation of rage and brimstone from the earth, fire, lava and black smoke fill with ash that destroys everything in his path but at the same time created new solid grounds on where the life could grow in due time.

This knowledge was given to him from Dione, the Devil Queen of the Greek Polis, during one of the mercantile exchanges that they did, not much after they discovered the presence of each other.

Now, Magnus knew what a volcano was, and armed with that knowledge and the sacred runes, he could manifest something identical or worst to what his mind was capable of conjuring.

It is said that sometimes reality surpass fiction but when the reality is empowered by the imagination, then is where the miracles could be made, in this case, the creation of a brutal volcano in the middle of the dark cage.

At first sight, Magnus has committed a very dangerous mistake, despite being a Campione, the lava could cause severe harm to him too, he was resistant, not invulnerable to damage but then [Fjolnir] comes into action and transform the human Magnus into a perfect replica of what an _Eldjötnar_ is.

Fire giants bathed in lava, gaining strength from the fire and the heat like the darkness has been doing with the light but this time, the darkness was the one distracted by the sudden beam and did not react in time to suppress the scorching flames of the volcano inside his tar deeps.

The attack in two fronts, such a wide scale attack, however take a tool in Magnus too, he could felt his magic power weakening after pouring such spell in motion, adding to that drainage the cost of the beam and the transformation into an _Eldjötnar._

Moving at astonishing speeds, the cage of darkness receded into a more vicious and terrifying visage, the only thing stable in all the mix was a white mask poorly mimicking a human face of red checks like blush and doll eyes.

The rest of the body, for give it a description was a conglomerate of things barely holding together as the fire consumed them, arms of men and women twisted in agony, soon followed by appendages of animals and claws.

Mouths of poisonous drool appeared over the wounds produced by the fire and near to them ,eyes of feral visage popped without order or sense, a long, spiky black mane grow form the sides of the white parodying mask and soon covered good part of the back of whatever this thing was.

Snapping jaws born in the palms of the limbs surrounding the mouths, each one of them with a different set of eyes, from animals, to humans, passing through insect composed eyes of arachnids and flies, mixed together in an amalgamation that didn't stop to shriek, none on earth will scream like that, it was a pained and hateful shriek of dozens of voices and sounds.

Magnus felt his stomach revolt at the image in front of him, such abomination should not exist, it does remember him to the abominations that he has saw in the deeps jungles of Africa and the obscene creations that Hades sent from time to time to punish the lands of Dione for killing Demeter and becoming a Devil Queen.

In resume, he was disgusted beyond measure and now that he had the form of a forty nine feet tall fire giant, he was going to squash this thing like the vermin it was. Even Odin, consummated shape shifter has never low himself to the point of acquiring this chimerical repulsive forms.

He didn't know if the pain of the scorching volcanic heat over its skin was numbing its mind, making it incapable of focus enough to fit in one single form or to adopt a more solid and coherent form, but in any case Magnus will not have pity on this thing, and it was not for the insult to all shape shifters but for the hate that emanates from it in waves, all of it directed at him.

In the form of an _Eldjötnar_, he feared nothing, the fire giants were the harbingers of the Ragnarok, when you are the apocalypse incarnated, fear was something that only the lesser live forms experiment in their lives.

_Tyrfing _raise over the chimera of darkness and then fall like a meteor of fire and steel directly to the mask of the dark form.

The chimera did not surrender for the inevitable, its thousand arms raise and block the incoming humongous edge of the blade and spikes grow from his growing form, trying to impale Magnus in the chest, but the fire that surrounded the body of the fire giant burn the spikes before it could reach their objective.

Without stopping screaming, the chimera grow to an equal height of the fire giant, looking at him with his porcelain eyes and creating a hundreds of dark weapons from his convulsing mass, facing such enemy, Magnus just smiled and grab _Tyrfing_ with both hands, ready to oppose numbers with strength.

The thing that despite having dozens of limbs form all kind of living beings protuberant from his core mass, moved more like a worm than with those legs, still, it was quite fast, surprisingly fast in fact but Magnus expected that and instead of trying to win it over a battle of speed; something he knew it was impossible, he just stood his ground and economize movements.

The dark weapons slash, cut, cub and pierce but none of them were near of piercing the fire protection that the body of the fire giant was, all the weapons just vaporize in contact with the hellish flames.

_Tyrfing_ on the other hand was doing an excellent job in harvesting the surface of the dark worm, limbs, mouths, eyes, everything was cleave and rip from the dark mass, leaving only tar smoking holes and pained shrieks of the surviving mouths.

But Magnus knew that all of this was nothing but a stale tactics, this appearance has hiding something, for the moment he will play as the dark worm wanted but he did channel his [Fimbulthurl] into another gigantic spells, no matter if his power was starting to weaken from the massive tricks he has pull previously.

Devil Kings had magical reserves akin to the gods and now that he was _Fostbraethr_ of Odin himself, they have became literally the magical reserves of a god, however, even for the gods or at last, from most of them, there is not unlimited reserves, they will exhaust at some point and will have to get back into the Myth realm.

Magnus let_ Eldjötnar_ nature take over his physical form and tear apart the worm as he patiently waited for the traitorous blade to came from the shadows, he knew this dark deity will play an underhand trick, he was more than sure of that, he was not sure what but no doubt it will do it.

Now this was a battle of patience, both were deep hide inside their transformations, Magnus fire giant apparently winning the match but the truth was that both of them were testing each other for weaknesses, testing their defences and how to pierce to them.

A dozen of tentacles, ended in poison dripping sharp and piercing needless surfaced from the shadow of the fire giant, almost invisible against the dark shadow that the giant projected on his back.

Slowly creeping upon their prey, they raised from the ground, moving always in synchrony with the shadows, so they could keep hide by the same power that was destroying the body of its creator.

They coiled and waited for the right moment to stab the fire giant in different but lethal points of his anatomy, they knew how an _Eldjötnar_ was, contrary to how Magnus was having difficulties to take the memories of the Netherealm, a full fledged god was more than accustom to the influx of information and could take what he wanted without losing himself in the flood of data.

They will attack and pierce his vital organs, pouring all the poison they could muster in one single strike, then the dark worm will pierce his front and rip his throat out with the most powerful set of jaws he could create in this weakened state.

Soon the trap will be ready and...

The tentacles find the perfect moment, they just shoot their needles in a blur of movement, directly at the vital points of the fire giant.

None of them did even get close, a thunder of monumental proportions blew them out of reach, sending them flying like a flock of mockingbirds caught in a tornado, the thunder was only the opening for an electric storm that covered completely the body of the fire giant.

The shock of the failure pause the chimera a second, less than a second, but for the form of the giant it was more than enough to finish this battle with a decisive strike to the most blatant weakness of the mass of darkness.

In hindsight, it was clear how the mask was the only thing that has not change during all the battle, the moment it materialized it, until now hide within layers and layers of dark tar like matter, it was clear that either was trying to lure him into a trap or it was so wounded that he could not hide its powers more.

The fire giant trust his flaming sword in a savage straight trust, directly at the mask, it moved like a bolt, a flame line that cut the darkness with predatory and feral rage but the sword could only mark the mask, the dark divinity was able to pull the mass on where the mask stand, back in time, so _Tyrfing_ wasn't able to cut it in half like it pretended but to leave a very long and deep gash in the surface.

If the previous shrieks wasn't enough, the noise that followed the deep and cracking on the border gash over the mask, was more than enough to break all glass in miles around.

The screeching noise did affect the _Eldjötnar_ as the senses of Magnus were at the same level as the bear he channels with [Polar Bear] and bears, do have sensitive ears, this monstrous screaming, meowing, roaring and everything you could imagine was more than enough for him to actually wince and give a step back covering his ears with a frown of displeasure.

Although, what he didn't expected was to the dark mass to flee in haste, moving like some kind of nauseous worm made of black tar, running as if all the warriors of Hell were on its ass, for an blotting mass of darkness it was quite the runner when it wanted.

Magnus receded back to his basic form, slowly recovering his breath, he still had one last trick to pull but to his disappointment, the dark whatever it was...ah, Mikaboshi, deity of darkness of Yamato, well, that information was useless now that the combat has already ended but, he will store it for future encounters, after all, once he left the Netherealm, the knowledge will slowly disperse like a dream.

Not even the gods could keep the memories of the Netherealm out of it, it will only cause havoc and drastically change the balance of the planet, something that not even the stupidest deity wants.

Very pissed off for the cowardly retreat of the god of darkness, Magnus rest a little, recovering his magical reserves from the continuous and great cost of the spells and _Authorities_he has used during the battle against the evil god.

Being completely honest, he was sure that the if only the god would have been on his prime and not running from a previous defeat, this entire battle would have been played completely different.

Still, it was good to know that he was as powerful as he suspected he was, ready for challenge any deity out there and make himself part of a living Saga, worthy of being inscribed in the _Edda_, so the younger generations could take courage of it and try to surpass him.

He rest in the grey void of the Netherealm, accumulating energy and magic from the infinite reserves of the place that bounders the realm of the living and the realm of the death and the myth.

Magnus was not very sure how in Yggdrasil name does all this works, but he knew that it works and with that will be more than enough, in case of extreme necessity, he will channel [Fimbulthurl] and with the knowledge of all magic related things will tame the flow of the Netherealm, as Pandora does to create her Campiones and other gods used to recover from the battles and actions they done in the Mortal realm.

Closing his eyes, Magnus just focus his mind in creating a little refugee from him, a simply clear in a forest, some trees, a waterfall, a quiet pond, some rustling breeze, no animal in the neighbourhood, just some quiet and peace nature scenery for quick and restful nap.

Covering himself with his own mantle, Magnus rest his eyes and mind from the overwhelming influx of knowledge that the Netherealm impose over his travellers, so far it has been useful only as a distraction from the tedious and long travel he was doing to wherever Pandora need him to be.

Yes, a quiet nap will be suffice...

_Tyfing _block the katana aiming for his head without him even opening his eyes.

He knew it, it was too good to be true, it was almost impossible for him to actually get some well deserved rest after an exhausting battle, specially when he reminded himself that he was still over Yamato lands...more or less, Netherealm respect to boundaries, it doesn't understand of borders and holds, it just exist.

Still, there was something odd about the attack, it has been lazy to say the last, he has dozens of alarms and tricks to catch up sneaky assassins, not to mention _Tyrfing _did not sleep and was always in vigilance but the attack has been straight and without any real power behind it.

This was a salute, a way of saying hello and be cautious at the same time, not really a surprise, he was a stranger in strange lands and only the knowledge of the Netherealm save him for the absolute ignorance about what and where he was.

In front of him stands a powerful male figure, dress with what it likes a black like dress and a jacket made of fire over his frame, his skin was lava like, orange, red and cracked from where sulphurous vapours emerged.

He was as tall as Magnus and equally broad, armed with a sword that seems to be made of fire, if it wasn't for the absence of a golden hilt and the slightly curved edge it has, Magnus has suspected that this deity has just stolen _Tyrfing._

Kagu-Tsuchi, echoed through the mind of Magnus, the slayed son of Izanagi, kill by his own father when he killed during birth his own mother Izanami, his body pieces became volcanoes and he is the Lord of Fire.

Neither of them say a word for a long time, each one of them testing each other, it was the first time for both of them that they found a deity of sorts of some far aways lands, for Magnus the previous battle with Mikaboshi didn't count at all, it has ended without a clear winner when the dark deity run away.

For the Nordmanni Campione, the presence of Kagu-Tsuchi was surprisingly similar to those of the _Eldjötnar_, they share the origin in fire and they do create volcanoes and fire storms, however there was an absence of dark emotions in the Yamato gods that separated him from the fire giants Magnus know.

He did posses dark emotions, considering his sad origins, it was no surprise he did resent his father and immensely regret the death of his mother, a tragedy that leads to an even greater tragedy when Izanagi failed to rescue his wife from the Yomi.

Both knew they were in front of power, although the absence of violence in the first place was a new thing for both of them, leaving apart the subtle awakening, Magnus could understand that it has been nothing but a wake up call, the fire god will not slay an sleeping opponent, something that Magnus could appreciate as honourable as it was.

Brutal maybe, but between gods, there is no boundaries, as they represent absolute concepts and their powers could shake lesser minds.

In a peaceful gesture, Magnus sheathed _Tyrfing_, much to the protest of the sword, one of this days he will have to have a chat with whatever consciousness is trapped inside the flaming blade, such battle frenzy and blood lust was abnormal, even for a former _Berserkr_ like him.

The Yamato god, recognize the gesture and make his own molten sword to vanish in a smoke burst, however none of them pronounce word as they had no idea of what exactly do, in the past Magnus will have reacted arrogantly, denouncing the god to identify himself, but the wisdom of the _Kvasir_ spoke otherwise, spoke of play his cards close to his skin.

The standoff endure until another powerful presence make his appearance in the little forestall realm that Magnus has created for resting, for the Nordmanni it was quite the surprise to sense another [Storm] god appear.

The new comer couldn't be as opposite as the serious fire god, about five and half feet tall, with a more than pronounced stomach, something that did not fool Magnus for a second as he could sense the power behind that appearance, with a long black beard and mane, dress in white robes, jacket and pants of some kind.

He appeared around the latter thirties, with a powerful but sheathed sword at her left hip and drinking from a very odd shaped bottle of wine, the strong smell of the alcoholic beverage reach the noise of Magnus; all in his appearance and manners signalled him as a lay back deity.

Netherealm confirmed what Magnus has suspected from the beginning.

Lay back my hairy ass, this was none other than Susanoo, one of the most powerful deities of Yamato and son of Izanagi, god of the storm and war, holder of the Ama-no-Murakumo, the sword that kills dragons.

In resume, do not mess with him and of course, Magnus know that he was in complete disadvantage, this was a two versus one battle, one mayor Yamato god and the fire god who was as powerful as an _Eldjötnar _minimum.

Magnus was smiling inside his mind, this was going to be quite the tale for the _Eddas_, however, there was something that did bother him and it was how none of them had actually try to kill him.

As the Netherealm reveal him, how the Yamato gods are not precisely welcoming of the strangers, considering them apes at their best, it was a little odd how they have not begun try to kill each other, Magnus was an intruder and he was now in a two versus one very difficult situation.

However, he was more than ready for the challenge, it will be a welcome challenge, a real and great test of the limits of his powers and now that he has been able to rest and recover his magic reserves, he was ready for a second battle.

"Well, this is something we don't see every day" laughed Susanoo loudly after finishing drinking from his bottle " what does a child of Yggdrasil so far of his home?".

Magnus blinked a pair of times, did Susanoo already meet some of the Aesir?, that was surprising, well, the Netherealm was different of the mortal realm, in the mortal realm, the farthest they have reached was the Mediterranean to the south and the Slavic lands of the east.

Yamato was way to far for any expedition to actually reach the coast of the islands, not to mention there was dozens of kingdoms, realms and empires between Scandinavia and them.

Of course, a person with an _Authority_ over travels, waters, earth or something similar could have been able to reach the place...well, he could have done but then, he would have abandon his kingdom and no way in Nilfheim that he would have done that.

"Greeting to you too Son of Izanagi" saluted Magnus with a fist over his chest "I am nothing but a traveller who has lost his way into the Netherealm".

"And kicking, good, old, Mika-chan ass ten ways to Sunday was in the travel plan?" smirked the god tossing Magnus the bottle.

Magnus just blinked again, the form on how Susanoo spoke was confusing to him, it was similar to how Pandora spokes sometimes, it was a little difficult to adapt to how they say things, how their words are full of double meanings.

Bless the _Kvasir, _for it will help you to understand what, in Yggdrasil name, are they talking about.

"Nay, that was a welcoming entertaiment from the boring rotine of grey nothingness" shrugged Magnus and hiding his fingers inside his cape, drawn a rune protection him from any poison that they could have slipped into the bottle or the alcohol, when the rune activated, he took a swing from the bottle and surprised from the taste of the alcohol.

"Not bad" toss Magnus the bottle back to the storm god " how is this drink called?".

"Sake my western friend" smiled broadly Susanoo like he was preaching " the elixir of the gods".

"Yamato gods, lad" snorted Magnus in humour " trust me, mead is much better, although I admit, your sake is quite good".

"Bah, heathen" dismissed Susanoo the words of Magnus but there was no malice in his words.

During all this conversation, Kagu-Tsuchi has been silent, just observing the actions of his brother and waiting patiently, in case they resort to violence, Susanoo was the god of the storm and his true character was far from the the lay back personality he was showing now.

"Still, what are your intentions here Nordmanni?" get back in track Susanoo, noticing the displease of Kagu-Tsuchi.

He was one to better never piss off, as the volcanoes that were his body and core, he could be quiet for a long time and then explode in unstoppable fury, consuming all in his path like the molten lava that moves over his skin and body.

"I will pass and keep looking for my destination" Magnus see no harm in playing honest with the gods of Yamato.

He was pretty much sure that all the gods of Yamato could kill him if they went after him at the same time, it is impossible to withstand an attack from all the Celestial pantheon of Yamato and walk away unharmed.

"And what destination is it?" asked Susanoo who was more than an expert trickster and liar and could recognize a lie at miles, this Nordmanni was telling the truth, quite curious actually.

"No idea" shrugged Magnus " I know that I have to travel through the Netherealm, until my destiny finds me and send me to the site I must be".

"Well, you have done me a favour" chuckled Susanoo " you have kicked Mika-chan ass so hard, that the little shape shifter will be licking wounds for some time, the little bastards has grow cocky this last century and wanted to claim the islands of Izu and Tennozu".

Magnus didn't see the importance until the Netherealm hit again; this was going to be a lot more difficult when he exited the Netherealm, a pity he could not keep some of the knowledge, it will come quite handy in the future.

What Susanoo was implying was that Mikaboshi wanted to claim two of the most vital spots of Japan, an active volcano, where rest one of the pieces of the body of Kagu-Tsuchi and Tennozu, a place where reside a dragon vein, a source of magical power that could empower a deity way beyond its limits.

Dangerous, in the hands of a living and consuming blanket of darkness that will transform the fertile lands of Yamato into a twisted parody of Yomi, the Yamato mythology version of hell and the underworld.

"Glad to be of service, although he scape before I could end him and send his dark carcass back into the myth realm" admit Magnus, the battle has been quite invigorating but at the end, when Mikaboshi saw that the battle could end in its loose, it turn tails and run like a coward from the battlefield.

"Ah, Mika-chan tends to be like that, not a bad guy, chick or whatever Mikaboshi wants to be that weekend" laughed Susanoo " but Mika-chan has never been in the side of the war deities, more into the stab in the back kind of deities".

"I noticed" nodded Magnus " during the battle I was obliged to be always on guard, always careful about attacks from my blind spots, Mikaboshi was quite the cunning warrior, even if at the end, dishonoured itself by fledgling like a coward".

Kagu-Tsuchi took those words very badly, for him, even if the westerner has done all Yamato a favour, he will not stain the honour of the Yamato deities, even if it was the more than doubtful honour of the dark and malign Mikaboshi.

_Kagu-Tsuchi,_ the sword of the same name was the god that created it from the heat and minerals of the volcanoes of his body, erupted in flames, moving like viper in a slashing arc direct at the chest of Magnus.

_Tyrfing _block the attack with his own flaming blade, equalling the power of the volcanic sword with a discharge of electric power that send a shock wave in all directions, moving their clothes and cape like they were trap in a hurricane.

Susanoo laughed at the clash of the weapons, his black mane moving wildly with the winds they have created in the impact and looking at them with a wide smile that betrays his previous laid back behaviour.

None of them, neither Kagu-Tsuchi or Magnus, move an inch from the colliding blades of their weapons, they look at their eyes, one fire, brimstone eyes and the other golden lightning, stormy eyes.

None of them steeping back one inch, both of them ready to unleash all the power of their _Authorities._

But the clash between volcano and storm did not produce when Susanoo unsheathed _Ama-no-Murakumo_ and cut the space between both of them with a powerful downward strike.

The winds erupted from the spot Susanoo has cut with the black, double edged sword, so different from the katana Magnus saw in the hands of Mikaboshi, still, the power on the black edge was on pair with his own _Tyrfing_, it does not have nothing to envy to the flaming blade.

Sensing this thoughts, the norse blade buzz in annoyance and jealousy, surprising Magnus a lot, how come the sword had that kind of sentiments and thoughts?, and why, in Hellas name, was the sword jealous?.

Thoughts for another, more peaceful moments, right now he was two gods in front of him and his Campione blood was boiling, ready for the battle the fire god seems to be looking, even with the knowledge of the Netherealms, the complex social relationships and meaning of Honour for the Yamato gods were something that collides face front against his own Nordmanni ways.

Yeah, Magnus was a very orthodox Normanni, he has saw a lot of world and meet a lot of different cultures, something that changes his views and attitudes towards the rest of the world, but even then he didn't understand how has he offend the fire god.

With a shroud of black clouds surrounding him and a rune already glowing on his free hands, Magnus prepared for battle, but for his surprise, Susanoo was standing in the middle of them, acting as a living, wind blowing barrier that keep both apart from each other.

"Peace, Nordmanni" chuckled Susanoo eyeing the edge of _Tyrfing_, he seems to recognize a weapon similar to his own _Ama-no-Murakumo,_ a conscious weapon worthy of a deity.

Magnus lower the tip of _Tyrfing_ but did not sheathe the weapon, in fact the storm shroud keep firm in his place, along a rune that Susanoo recognize, in his own standards, as a _Kotodama,_ a word of power that could twist the reality like few things in the myth realm could do.

"I only spoke the truth" voiced Magnus his displeasure for the sudden attack of Kagu-Tsuchi.

He could admit that it has been a very good attack, worthy of any warrior god but it has come without advise, it has been like the attack of an spoiled child who has ear something he didnt like and react only with violence.

"And I concur" said Susanoo drinking from his bottle, for the first time Kagu-Tsuchi changed his facial expression into one of surprise and shock for the words of the storm god.

"Kagu-Tsuchi-san has always been one hard on traditions, despite his own resentment against dad and the world" said Susanoo glaring hard to the other Yamato god, there was some kind of unspoken communication between them.

Magnus observed it all quite surprised for the attitude of the storm god, in all honesty and judging from the memories and knowledge of the Netherealm, he would have supposed that it would be Susanoo the one leading the charge, not to mention that according to the legend, Kagu-Tsuchi was the older god of the two and Kagu-Tsuchi being supposedly even more pure breed than the god of the storms.

Once again, what humans believe and what really are the gods are quite different and now he was seeing it in the flesh, he shouldn't have been surprised, Pandora and Odin were not as his respective people portraits them to be.

After all they do live in a timeless realm and when they enter in the Netherealm they do get all the past, present and future knowledge about them, there are dozen of gods that have changed appearance, gender, domains, origins and practically everything related to them by the sands of time and the interpretations of the human mind about their gods.

Such is the curse of the divinities, the faith and the beliefs of the mortals shape them when they travel to the mortal realm, Magnus was not free from that curse, it simply was that his legend was in diapers, he was part of the Aesir but he was not in the _Edda_ or any other Saga of his people apart of the legends he spread during his time as Campione in his own kingdom.

The conversation between them, seems to reach an end and Kagu-Tsuchi, reluctantly put down his lava sword, there was disagreement radiating from his scorching frame but the god complied with whatever Susanoo has told him.

"Leaving apart this little confusion" smirked Susanoo looking at Magnus " it is true that you have done us a great service, Mika-chan was wounded from a previous skirmish against Kagu-Tsuchi-san here but the little cunning thing managed to hide from our senses and flee from us".

"His stench, his darkness, I can follow it anywhere" tip Magnus his nose, it had sense, Mikaboshi hide from the gods of Yamato but the skills as hunter of Nanook are second to none, the [Polar Bear] is the very core of the perfect hunter of the frozen tundra of the northern ice fields.

"Is that so?" raised an eyebrow Susanoo, the old Kami didn't expect that, he has already give up in hunting the god of darkness.

The crafty bastard was very skilled in hide from the ire of Ama-chan and dad, for what he knows, only Izanami allow the bastard to be around Yomi and if that was the case, both Kagu-Tsuchi and him were way beyond their boundaries, the mother of the land of Yamato barely tolerated their presence in the lands of darkness.

But, and this was a big but, this Nordmanni, strong enough to hold his ground against Kagu-Tsuchi, who has already bested Mikaboshi, even if the dark god was weakened from a previous battle, was not aligned with the Amatsukami, the gods under the banner of Amateratsu-Omikami.

This could get a lot more interesting, a hell more interesting.

Susanoo has been sent to the Netherealm to caught the fleeing Mikaboshi and he has the help of the stoic Kagu-Tsuchi, they hunted the dark god for what it seems eons and they did not find anything of him, until they felt his essence explode against a power that resembles the one of Kagu-tsuchi, only to find this westerner sleeping under a tree in one crafted realm of the Netherealm.

Nice spot for a nap by the way, it was a perfect representation of nature and does have a nice felling, like a spot in the dragon veins, this westerner, this son of Asgard did know his stuff.

"Wouldn't you be interested in a little hunt?, would ya Asgardian?" smirked fiercely Susanoo and his smirk was a reflection of the one sporting Magnus.

"As long as I have a go at Mikaboshi, so our battle could be decided, I will gladly join the hunt?" replied Magnus, who was seeing that his god of the storm has a lot of things in common with him.

However and to the surprise of both of them, Kagu-Tsuchi just vanish in a sudden explosion of brimstone and heat that torched all the safe haven of Magnus, transforming it into a charred and consumed land.

The despise and disagreement was palpable in the air, Kagu-Tsuchi didn't approve of the westerner and he will tarnish his honour, not the honour of his kin by joining this foreigner in the mission of hunting one of their own, no matter how evil he was, Mikaboshi deserved respect as one of the Yamato kamis.

"Such a pity" commented Susanoo taking a sip from his bottle " I liked the place".

The storm god was safe from the outburst of the older Kami, safely protected by the powers of his sword and his own domain of the winds.

In a very similar fashion, Magnus has been protected by the storm clouds that surrounded him, but the anger of the Nordmanni irradiated in waves from his body.

Susanoo eyed the western god and took good note of how powerful it was, it contained the essence of beasts way older than humankind, it contains the power of the ice in a shape that he hadn't see in centuries along the feeling that he was looking at a bear whose domain has been invaded and ravaged.

"_That has been a very stupid move Kagu-Tsuchi" _thought Susanoo, giving some time to the Nordmanni to calm himself after how the fire god has offended the western with his dramatic and catastrophic for the environment, return to the myth realm.

Susanoo has already learnt the lesson of how you don't crash the things of other gods, he has to travel as mortal, marry a peasant girl, kill a dragon and thousand other deeds and heroics, only for finally deliver his sword to Ama-chan and being allowed again in Tamagakara.

If the westerner is half the vindictive Ama-chan was, Kagu was in for a world of pain, no matter how much volcano god he was, this western deity was his equal to say the last, he could sense the power of the old and crafty one eyed bastard in him, not to mention the presence of the ice and the bear of the extremes of the world.

The Nordmanni spoke and the world around them collapse, all the dimension, the little safe heaven, has fulfil his propose and it was time to join the grey matter of the Netherealm, however the last words of the Norse god were for Kagu-tsuchi and they were Kotodama, words of power.

"_As Kagu-Tsuchi has destroy my creation, as he has offended my Mannhelgr, I intone, by the branch of Yggdrasil, that I will claim, retribution, vengeance or wergeld when the blood of my prey has been spilt"._

Susanoo recognized an oath of vengeance when he sees one and this time he had to access to the memories of the Netherealm to identify the terms that the westerner has just used.

_Mannhelgr_, the entire of the possessions of a person, from his material possessions to his honour and the honour of his clan and family.

_Wergeld_, the price of the blood, the price that is stipulated as the payment required when you kill a free man without a cause, only cold blood.

Susanoo waited patiently but inside he was smirking like the Cheshire cat, he has found one that had an axe to grind with that arrogant and killjoy of Kagu-Tsuchi and what its best is that the westerner did have reasons to do so.

No doubt Kagu-Tsuchi has offended him, first of all, they were not in Yamato, but in the private realm of the Nordmanni and in the worst possible manner, the ancient fire god has completely bitch slapped the westerner and their concept of hospitality.

Not only so but he has attacked him twice, first in defence of the honour of Mikaboshi and second to the same world he has created, if the first one could have been overseen by the intervention of Susanoo and the honour defence interpretation, the second would not been overseen.

"_Kagu is in for a world of pain and the idiot has just seek it by himself" _sighed Susanoo, at last he will travel with the Nordmanni and could see what were his strengths and weakness, so he could help Kagu-Tsuchi when the time comes.

Even if he has acted like an idiot, he is still family and he has to be protected and cherish, even if he was like a toothache.

"As much as I would like you to forgot the incident it seems that you are determined" said Susanoo standing in the air and looking at the other god.

"I will delay my hand, as I have give my word to you, to assist in the hunt, but I will not forget, not forgive, this offence god of the storms, so much I can promise you" replied Magnus and start changing into the powerful frame of a white bear, standing tall in his ten and half feet, the beast raise his snout and with a powerful roar start running in the direction of his prey.

Susanoo was almost tempted to say: Go fetch, but he was sure that the westerner god will not tolerate such joke, it was good and he will store it for later occasions but for the moment it will have to be keep unsaid.

In the Netherealm, most widely know in the future for all the mages and deities as the boundary between dimensions, there is no real distance of directions, it is more a matter of perception, desire and will.

Mortals, not accustom at all to the pressure and the flow of the intermediate dimension, soon start to lose their life force, incapable of endure the power of the Netherealm, it is like being toss in the middle of an electric storm or an immense battery, sooner or latter the energy eats you, unless you posses a body capable of withstand such environments, like gods, divine beast, divine ancestors and very well prepared magicians.

With that in mind, it was kind of useless to actually run, you thought of a place and there you are, its a matter of will and perception more than actual movement, however Susanoo has had more than enough of his share of hunters and predators, both divine and mortal, and he could understand if the hunting was more ritualistic, much like the conditions some _Authorities_ have bounded to their activations.

Still, he couldnt but feel like he was walking the dog, a very, very big bear instead of a dog and one that could bite his head off if he dared to comment that thought, oh, he will use it to rattle him against Kagu-Tsuchi, that will be the battle of ages.

The bear was moving at impossible speeds, bears are not natural fast animals, oh, they can outrun a human with easiness, but their bodies are not made for speed, instead it is made for strength and endurance, to be the king of the forest and mountains on where they dwell.

Susanoo has to admit, that it was the first time he saw a white bear and it was bigger than the supernatural bear he has ever meet, there was some bear kamis out there, in the spiritually rich lands of Yamato but there were not at the same level at this monster.

Without crossing a word, they keep hunting their prey, looking for the smell that indicates Mikaboshi has pass around that place or whatever trails is following the bear, Susanoo was a mischievous god, he loved to prank and make jokes everywhere, so he was quite versed in how to slip unnoticed, and to know how to move without raising attention means you know where to look when you are looking for others trying to sneak out.

Mikaboshi had him beat in that front, hands down, the dark god, an avatar of the primordial chaos was the best at sneak his way out of any situation, he has done more than enough to earn the death penalty several times already but he is capable of hide from their pursuers and to be back, no matter how many pieces he is hacked into or how badly they torch, freeze, electrocute and in general make him suffer.

But he was always back, that was one of the mysteries of the primordial chaos god, some of the sagest deities of the Celestial plains, had theorized that the chaos can not be slain, that in time, with enough chaos created, both in the Myth realm, Netherealm or human realm, he will reform, feeding in that chaos and reforming him back.

For the moment, it was the most accepted theory about how Mikaboshi manages to get back every time he is destroyed, vanquished or exiled into Yomi or the Myth realm, curiously, despite him always appearing in the mortal realm, he has never fight one of those Devil Kings of Pandora.

The bear roared and this time Susanoo could notice how they were getting close to their prey, the miasma of the wounds and presence of Mikaboshi was all around them, they could sense and for Susanoo suspected, Mikaboshi could sense the powerful presence of the boar too.

The Nordmanni was not even trying to hide his presence, he was just bulldozing his way in the lair of Mikaboshi, challenging the dark god to do something about him, not bad, it could be enough to force the hand of Mikaboshi, he has suffered two humiliating defeats, one at the hands of Kagu-Tsuchi and the other at the hands of the western god.

He was way beyond any rational thought now, but the dangerous animal is the cornered rat and Mikaboshi has been cornered and wounded, both in his pride and in his amorphous body, something that makes him twice more dangerous that he usually was.

Even with superior numbers, Susanoo knows they were in for an intense battle, fortunately they were both gods of the storm and for what he could sense in the aura of the bear god leading the charge, he was a powerful magician and the [Steel] echoed in him and his sword, still the hunger in the edge of the blade of the Normanni was way superior that the battle lust of his own Ama-no-Murakumo.

The attack came in the form of a rain of sharp tentacles, the sudden and piercing rain fall upon them like the hammer of the gods, trying to impale them, violently and put an end to the fight before it could have even begun.

It was praiseworthy on its simplicity and how it could have ended the battle before it could have even begun but their opponents were not as easily killed, Susanoo moved his sword in wide arcs, parrying with supernatural skill, all the pointy killer appendages, on the other hand Magnus was much more direct in his approach.

He keep running at the hidden and shadow cloaked form of Mikaboshi, he could hide from his peers but the smell of his tar blood was something that pierced deeply the sense of smell of Magnus, he will never forget that horrible stench.

He didn't give a fuck about the projectiles, he shrugged them like they were rain with his white fur glowing in a bluish aura that freezes and repelled all the speared tentacles, passing through the hail of dark piercers, he just open his mandibles and bite into the shadows ripping a good chunk of the matter of the darkness in a gory explosion of black tar like ooze.

Mikaboshi screamed like broken glass, slamming a claw into the side of the bear over him and sending his flying into the side with a nasty and smoking wound on his fur and hide, dark and red blood were mixing over the deep gash, irregular and unnatural gashes that parodies claws.

Roaring from the sudden pain, Magnus change back into his human form, with the wounds still visible in him as cuts that had torn apart his chain mail, a couple of blood drops fall from the open wound, smoking as they touch the black substance over the grey metal that seems to compose his armour.

Mikaboshi twisted and coiled, growing and transforming into a demented parody of an oriental dragon, long, scaled and with seventy eyes all over what could be called head, all over his surface, thousands of jaws and appendages ended in claws and weapons of all kind, take forms.

Roaring in response to the challenge, a roar that deafened both gods, Mikaboshi open three of the jaws in his head and puke a torrent of dark mud.

Susanoo counterattack with a flood of water, a torrent of raging waters, something akin to a tsunami, as Magnus channel his own [Storm] and took flight.

As the waves collided with a thunderous sound, Magnus unsheathed _Tyrfing _ and the sword replied with a bright glow on his flame like edge, the sword was more than eager to taste the dark blood of Mikaboshi again.

He joined the other storm god, concentrating in healing the cuts on his side but the poison of the dark god was not as easily eliminated and it was requiring a lot more power that what he expected.

"That seems painful Nordmanni" laughed Susanoo launching a dozen of lightning bolts to the massive form of the dragon, keep at bay by an storm front that repelled every attempt of him to reach the other two gods.

"The bastard got me good, didn't expect that last swipe of his clans, I thought I have rip his throat out" clenched his teeth Magnus noticing how the wounds were closing and the poison leaving his blood " never underestimate a shapeshifter".

"Ha, good advice" nodded Susanoo with a laugh, creating tornadoes by swirling _Ama-no-Murakumo_ in the air, and sending them directly at the extreme of the dragon, catching him in a vortex and sending all his massive frame flying far from them.

Magnus close his eyes and entered in trance, looking for a spell of _Sjder, _ he need something that could give them an edge over the mass of darkness, something that could bind him for enough time for them to go for the kill and end the bastard before he could change and prevent his own death like he has done not a minute ago.

He has rip his throat, but he has just transform and despite the lost of a good chunk of his body, he still have a lot of fight inside him, just look at the whatever serpentine dragon he has transformed into.

Magnus was nauseated by the parody of a dragon and a snake that Mikaboshi has taken as battle form.

For the Nordmanni, the dragon are the ultimate destroyers, they are cunning, brutal and proud beasts, they consume and take whatever they wanted, as firmly believers in the idea of the strength gives the right.

But this...thing, that Mikaboshi has form to face them, it was a twisted and ugly parody of what a dragon should be, starting from the uncountable eyes, the extra appendages and the sulphurous smoke that escapes from his mouths, too many mouths to be sane.

The knuckles on the hilt of _Tyrfing_ went white for the pressure and Magnus open his eyes, he had the solution and the way to ensure that the god will be trap into a form until they could finish him off.

Magnus raised _Tyrfing _to the stormy sky over him and pour a lot of magical energy in the storm that Susanoo was controlling to throw it at Mikaboshi, the white dressed god was moving like a lightning, cutting and severing limbs and pieces of meat before the dragon could recover and counterattack.

Electricity, rain capable of piercing stone and winds capable of destroy buildings punished the form of the dragon but it doesnt seem affected at all for the natural disaster constantly hitting on him, in fact the dragon has almost catch the ever moving form of Susanoo in one of his claws or mouths.

It has been too close for the storm god, who moved back into the safety of the storm clouds he controlled, but before he could think about an strategy, he felt the sudden reinforcement of the _Authority _ of the westerner and with that extra power Susanoo smiled.

Now, we where talking.

Dancing in the storm, in a mesmerizing display of swordsmanship forms, Susanoo twirled and danced with a vortex of pure power in the form of white and golden electricity.

The dragon noticed the sudden danger of the vortex and puked another wave of poisonous ooze directly to the heavens, along hundreds of hands, claws and piercing weapons, trying to brute force his way into the storm and collapse the vortex before Susanoo could finalize it.

The vortex was something that he didn't expected, in fact, all this collaboration between the foreign ape and that smug bastard was something he didn't expected at all, it went directly against all the principles of the Celestial plains.

He was prepared for a battle against a fire god, not two storm gods, he was hoping to ambush Kagu-Tsuchi and stole a portion of his body, so he could absorb it and gain a permanent foothold in the mortal realm.

If he could made his, one of the volcanoes of Yamato, he could spread his darkness and chaos to the mainland from the relative safely position of the dangerous island, few could survive those environments, only other gods and Devil Kings and Yamato has not seen one of those in centuries.

Mute proof of the power of the Yamato gods, that were not as easily killed as the rest of the foreign weaklings.

The vortex and the sudden charge and poisonous flood of Mikaboshi fought for dominance on the skies, the energies that both where pouring into the conflict would have been more than enough to wipe out Yamato twice but for the Netherealm, it was nothing.

After all, there was nothing to destroy, it was all created from the grey nothingness of the plane, so everything returns to the source.

Winds, electricity and poison dance in the core of the vortex, as the dark dragon has reached the centre of the storm and was relentlessly attacking the evasive god, Susanoo moved like a breeze, never in the same spot twice, never stops, never slow or slouchy.

His grace was preternatural, he cuts the dark scales, leaving deep scars where he cuts and shocking the muddy flesh of the dragon, that reacted to slow to catch the hurting god that cuts him everywhere.

The nasty cuts of _Ama-no-Murakumo_ hurt him deeply, the sword that kills dragons whose black metal was capable of even slaying gods was one of the few things in existence that really worries Mikaboshi, that damn sword was power incarnate and in the hands of a god of [Steel] and [War] like Susanoo, it was lethal to a degree mortals could barely comprehend.

Fortunately, he was not able to really cut deep enough to really cause any severe harm, the pieces of his flesh that he lost hurt and it will take a loot of effort and time to regenerate them but there were easy substituted.

He had to keep the god unbalance, so he could not call the [Storm] and channel it into the blade, if that happens, Susanoo could unleash the entire power of a storm inside of his wounds, even a god of primordial chaos like him will perish from that.

It will take hundreds of years for him to recover in the myth realm, centuries that he will pass vulnerable to the other Yamato gods and unable to do anything in the mortal realm, losing centuries of careful manipulations of the humans and the other gods to promote the chaos in the mortal realm.

The dragon coiled and slow but steady surrounded Susanoo in a cage of darkness, a place where the gods could not scape or dodge the attacks of the infinite claws and dark weapons of Mikaboshi.

But when the trap was about to be set, Susanoo cleave his way out of the trap, vaporizing in a sudden eruption of power, and entire part of the body of the dark dragon, cleaving his body with the blade of his sword sending thousands of pieces of the flesh of Mikaboshi, flying in all directions, each one of them with enough force to destroy stone.

Flying like and electric comet and taking advantage of the sudden and gruesome escape from the trap Mikaboshi was setting up, something he would have never been able to accomplish if it wasn't for he extra kick the western god has give to Susanoo storm, he gained the higher ground, channelling the vortex into the swirling tip of _Ama-no-Murakumo._

Mikaboshi quickly recovered from the sudden and grievous wound, after all he was a shape shifter and the loss of mass something that could be easily recovered time and energy, consuming thousands of the Yamato dwellers will be a good way to start the recovery.

Already tasting victory as he knows that Susanoo will not be able to channel the humongous storm in time, before he could chomp his head of of his body, Mikaboshi coiled his body, ignoring the pain and the damages and prepare to strike like a snake will do.

All his black body moved in synchrony, adding force to the extension of his deformed head but filled to the brim with sharp and nasty teeth, make from rend and torn the flesh of the victim under them, opening the jaws, the massive form moved in an astonishing display of speed and predatory focus.

He will never reach his objective.

Chains, thousands and thousands of chains appeared from nowhere and trapped his head with a grip strong enough to stop him in the middle of the air, a mass of hundreds of tons, like it has hit an unbreakable wall.

At the other end of the chains, stands a widely smiling Magnus, holding the chain like it where the lashes over a savage beast, keeping it caged and detained inside a net of unbreakable chain links.

Suddenly posses by a frenzy, all the body of Mikaboshi start to change, to create jaws, claws, weapons, whatever is needed to broke the chains imprison him, he changed from the dragon form to a large snake and tried to slip pass the chains but they just squeeze his body even tighter.

"This is _Glaupnir_" laughed Magnus, whose voice echoed over the thunderous sounds and noises of the storm " this is more than enough to hold even a monster like you".

Mikaboshi struggled but the chains didnt even get rusty or even scratched when he bite, claw and maw all the metallic prison around him, his desperation went up and he just liquify himself in order to just flow out of the chains.

But he discovered that it was not that easy, the chains did not hold him but neither abandon him, he was as contained as before but he was failing like a meteor, after losing the form and just became a black and torrential hail of darkness.

" Struggle bastard, struggle all you want, you are not going to be free" Magnus smile widened and with a sudden pull of the chain, one that tensed his powerful muscles to the limit, he moved the dark comet on his hands, forcing his movement to align with the white and golden electric meteor Susanoo was creating.

The dark matter tried to scape but the imprisonmet of Glaupnir was unbreakable, however Magnus fell how strong the pull of the dark god was and channelling [Polar Bear] assuming his impossible strength, he hold his ground with all the veins on his arms and torso bulging from the strain of the frenzied and desperate scape attempts of Mikaboshi.

The white and golden blizzard hit Mikaboshi like the hammer of the gods, his dark and tar like flesh exploded in a shower of gore and poison, the dark flood was vaporized by the electricity and the divine power hidden within the storm.

Water cleansing his filthiness, winds cleaning his poisonous emanations, electricity burning his evil and disgusting amorphous flesh.

The crescendo keep augmenting, as the cries of anger, pain and hate of the dying Mikaboshi imposed over the thunderous noise of the golden storm and winds and rain stream of gusts and drumming over his flesh.

And among all those sounds, the laughs of victory of Magnus and Susanoo were clear, the Yamato god was dancing with the storm, moving like a professional dancer, making thunders echo with a twist of his black sword every time Mikaboshi shrieked in pain.

Magnus on the other hand stood in the same place, with the chains firmly hold in his hands and arms, powerful muscles bulging under the pressure of keeping Mikaboshi under the storm that was grinding him alive under there is nothing left.

Between laughs, the fierce Nordmanni roared in a bear like manner, exultant in his victory.

It didn't take long for the dark god to be completely obliterated by the combined storm of Susanoo and Magnus, the unbreakable chain links of_ Glaupnir_ fall to the ground when they lost what they were holding, and despite being smoking and with the surface charred, the chain still looks strong enough to contain a titan.

With a last shriek of vengeance, Mikaboshi died and dispersed like a bad dream, leaving two exhausted gods, standing in the destroyed environment that Mikaboshi has created for his ambush,soon the place dispersed into the Netherealm, after losing the will that has created it in the first place.

"You are a tough one Nordmanni" congratulated Susanoo still smiling for the victory "its been an honour to fight alongside you".

"Aye, Lord of the Storms" laughed Magnus dispersing the chains back into the [Dvergar Forge], the _Authority _was one of his aces, considering how versatile it could be "this has been a good battle and a good tale to add to my Saga".

"Don't sell me low in that one would ya?" joked Susanoo.

"I always took pride of being true in my Sagas" nodded " now the only thing left is to know if you will be part of the next one as ally or enemy".

"And here I was hoping that you will let it go" sighed Susanoo concentrating his powers again, the blue aura of the god filled the Netherealm.

Magnus didn't feel the pull of a new _Authority_ in his soul, that means that he has not kill Mikaboshi but Susanoo has been the one dealing the last hit, it didn't really matter for him, he was happy with his actual _Authorities_ and the hunger for power could be his doom one day.

The blue glow of Susanoo extended like a wave over all the Netherealm, where the blue wave hit, the creation follows, raising a beautiful forest and a river, near a mountain range in the distance and with a cloudy sky.

Flowers born from the grass, the trees grow to majestic proportions and the snow covered the top of the mountains, not to long after that, the river get bigger and fishes started to swim in his clear waters.

In the distance, the howling of a wolf was hear and several birds of all kind started to flock the forests branches, as dozen of insects and bees start to dig on the flower buds and dance over the waters and the fresh grounds.

Magnus stands in the edge of the river, looking at the far away mountains, he didn't recognize the mountain range but it was so nostalgic from his own Scandinavia that he couldn't but felt back at home for a second.

Susanoo landed some metres behind of him, wearing his white clothes and drinking loudly from his bottle, it does seems that the contents of that bottle will never empty, good thing for a god that seems to drink quite his fare everywhere he goes; not really that different from a lot of the Aesir though.

"Ah, a piece of home" sighed happily the storm god after finishing his drink "so, any chance to let bygones be bygones?".

"Nay, I am sorry Storm Lord" shook his head Magnus, with _Tyrfing_ already glowing gold in his hand " Kagu-Tsuchi causes me Mannhelgr and I can not forgive that affront to my honour, not without compensation".

"I was fearing that" nodded Susanoo who understood perfectly well the matter of honour, after all , Yamato was a land whose deities are concepts of great honour and that something that covers all moments of their life and existences.

"Will you stand in my way?" simply ask Magnus whose golden aura was already slowly glowing around him.

Susanoo smiled and Magnus didn't like that smile at all, was the same smile that Pandora and Odin had when they send him tumbling over all Yggdrasil and landing in this forgotten piece of land.

Well, he has enjoy the battle, this was a wonderful prove of how his _Authorities_ and how they are as powerful as he remember the old ones and discover the new ones, in all honesty he has been playing by the ear in some cases.

He hasn't even dig in the real power inside _Tyrfing_, not to mention he suspect that was going to be the ride of his life, the sword has a mind of his?, her?, own and for what he has sensed, the sword has a very nasty temper.

In a very vague way, it does remind him of his fourth wife, she was quite the feisty one, she was a Ulfhednar, a wolf berserkr, after all and she was the alpha of her pack and she takes no bullshit form anyone.

Magnus had the sword pointing downwards, ready for be used but not directly menacing the Storm Lord, he will give the deity a chance to step down, his younger self will have already charge and try to decapitate the god but Susanoo has fought at his side and deserve that courtesy at last.

"Don't get me wrong westerner" Susanoo aura erupted from his body in a show of power, the presence of the god fill all the space, eating the atmosphere around them, the clouds get dark in a second, forming a shroud of blue lighting and powerful gust of winds.

That was power in his most pure expression, the ability to control completely the weather and the reality around you and make it obey your commands as absolute orders, no space for anything that is not your will.

That is divine power, that are _Authorities_, that is how the deities gain and command worship and submission from the mortals, they command, they are in the top of the food chain, simply as that.

Power, unstoppable, indomitable power, all over them and in the skies, the earth shake under the pressure of the unleashed power of Susanoo, the skies cried in anguish as the will of Susanoo obliged them to roar in a chorus of thunder and lightnings crawling over the black clouds.

In the middle of such tornado of destruction, as an island of calm in a vast ocean of blue power capable of destroy countries, a single, steady and calm golden candle stood proud and unbowed to the power trying to overwhelm him.

This standoff continue for a long time, as neither Susanoo, neither Magnus wanted to be the one backing off, and to be honest, Magnus just wanted to fight.

Susanoo, much like Perun, was a god of storm, the best way to test his powers and the limits of the [Storm] he took from Perun, was to actually test it against another and experienced god that share his _Authority_ and know it, in and out.

Magnus flared his own and golden aura, in a curious form, a gigantic rune appeared at his back, the rune that he took to represent him in the Sagas, the rune that represent Magnus.

When the golden flame grow bright and torch part of the heaven, it was the first time Susanoo actually changed his face and turned his savage smile into a very surprised expression, perhaps that shock was perhaps what make him lost control over the storm and just let it vanish.

Still, what Magnus didn't expect at all, was to Susanoo laugh his ass off in front of him, so violently that he actually bow from the laughs.

Expecting Susanoo to actually blindside him as he was distracting him with this laughing show, as no attack come his way, Magnus relax his golden aura, making the rune disappear, something that he will study in another way, not even as Campione has he ever display such a thing.

After five minutes in full laughter, Susanoo actually calmed himself enough to recover his voice and actually say something.

"Oh, that is rich" he clean a tear from the laughs and recover his vertical with a wide smile on his face, he has already cut off his blue aura " you are a Devil King, a Maou, by the horns of Ryujin, we havent see one in centuries and the first one we see, actually kick Mika-Chan ass and wanted to duel Kagu-Tsuchi".

Magnus blinked a pair of times, has Susanoo just realize that he was a damn Campione?, what?, how come?, it was clear since the beginning, he has never hide the mixed origins of his _Authorities..._

Ah, Odins blood, [Jotunblut], that gives him the same blood as the gods, so it was only when he show himself with that rune, that Susanoo received the knowledge of who he was from the Netherealm.

"It doesn't change a thing" said Magnus, not seeing the importance of all this.

"Oh, it does change everything westerner, and not for good" sighed Susanoo "unfortunately for you, it does to the worst, you see, you are a Devil King, a being capable of slaying gods and stole their _Authorities_".

"Aye, I am, I have never hide it" admit Magnus " and my Mannhelgr with Kagu-Tsuchi is still standing".

"They will never allow you to fight Kagu-Tsuchi" said Susanoo drinking from his bottle " the Ama-tsukami will raise hell against you before a westerner, a gaijin, stole an honoured _Authority_ from them and walk away from the sacred lands of Yamato".

Magnus understood the point of Susanoo, the gods of Yamato will hunt the offender to the corners of the earth, and in twisted way of thinking, they could offend anyone but will hunt and torture anyone who did the same to them.

Kind of safety in the numbers, and in cold facts, possible the Nordmanni would have do the same, and the Greek polis and the Egyptian, and the Afrika spirits and the Bogovi, the only one that didn't seems to care a shit about that was Nanook.

The ancient bear seems satisfied with the idea of being bested and how another more powerful predator has took his place as the top of the food chain, Magnus was quite thankful to the old bear to have that kind of thinking.

And now that he thought about it, Perun was the one that had a very similar way of thinking of the Yamato deities, he has been hunting him relentless for centuries and if he just won the duel against Kagu-Tsuchi, a duel to the death most probably, he will take an _Authority _from him and then went his way into his destiny, effectively dishonouring one of the oldest Yamato Kamis.

The situation was completely mess up but Magnus just shrugged and smiled to the challenge, now they were talking about a real, epic, Saga.

Magnus versus all the deities of the Ama-Tsukami.

That's what legends are made of.

"Aye, I understand the situation" nodded Magnus but _Tyrfing_ glow brightly as the sword sensed how Magnus was not going to back down the challenge, the incoming conflict just make the sword buzz with anticipation " but I will not stand down, my pride, my honour has been offended and I do reclaim _Mannhelgr,_ do not make it W_ergeld_ Lord of Storms, I hate to spill the blood of those who has honoured me by fighting at my side".

Susanoo sighed, Amateratsu will never allow this westerner to get a country close of Kagu-Tsuchi and he was slowly discovering that some of the westerners had a honour system as complex as their own, as samurai, as warrior, Susanoo could understand perfectly what Magnus has to done, it was a matter of honour, something the Yamato deities understood very well.

"By the heads of Orochi, westerner, I have no choice" Susanoo raise _Ama-no-Murakumo _and prepare for the inevitable battle.

This was such a pity and all for a reckless action of that stiff bastard of Kagu-Tsuchi, he liked the westerner, he was way more fun that a lot of Kamis, in he would not have been a Devil King, Susanoo would even lead him to the lair of Kagu-Tsuchi in one of the volcanic islands.

With a savage smile, both, Deity and Devil King clash their swords.

And the Netherealm trembled.


End file.
